GATE : Fields of Halkeginia
by UN Peacekeeper
Summary: From another world of magic and fantasy, a gate opens in the Streets of Ginza. An army of medieval and Renaissance clad Armour with fantasy beings invade Japan. The World unites to fight those aggressors and have justice for the victims in Ginza. Unknown to the people of Earth, one of its own is still trapped there waiting a chance if possible return home.
1. Prologue

I always wanted to see a modern military invasion into Familiar of zero, After watching GATE anime i got this idea to create my own version of gate and familiar of zero crossover.

This fanfic is set after the end 2nd season of familiar of Zero and just in the beginning months of 3rd season when Saito had returned resurrected by Tiffania back to Louise, this is where this series goes totally A.U.

I do not own Familiar of Zero nor GATE: Thus the JSDF fought there.

CH- Prologue

Halkeginia, Germanian Empire, Royal Palace.

The court room of royal palace was in a uproar. After the revelation of Emperor Albert III that he had just signed a treaty of Non aggression with Gallia. He also proclaimed that the Gallian princess is going to be his new fiancé and Gallia & Germania are now allies . He also proclaimed that with the blessing from the Pope himself that he will open a new frontier to Sahara and to the holy lands for final defeat of the elves. The news of the proclamation reached all the parts of the continent. It is also seen as the long awaited beginning of the holy wars against the elves.

Preparations were made for the campaign and 10 major army legions were prepared for the final push into elves territory. Orcs and Trolls were acquired to be the brute force of the army, the largest concentration of dragons ever in Germanian history were mustered. There was also the newest unit in the Germanian army " Musketeers" were being recruited in large numbers. these preparations were didn't go unnoticed by other kingdoms. They also deployed their armies but as a reserves . Many commoners from all over the continent formed volunteer corps to be sent through the gate. Nobles from all over the continent came to Germania to attain eternal glory by defeating the elves and conquering the holy land. It took nearly 3 months for total preparation for the grand invasion.

Halkeginia, Tristain, Academy of Magical studies

Saito was having a bad day. First he got a zapped by Louise for being over protective towards his new friend Tiffania when she was being forced to being take a dip in hot boiling water by a new student in the school as an inquisition to know are loyalty and not being a spy for elves. Though the situation was defused by timely intervention by Louise by blasting everyone on the field for ruining her dream. Then when tiffania thanked him by a hug Louise became angry for not being spending much time with her and used her cane to beat the shit out of him. He tried to reason with her but she was not in a very good mood and chased him all over the school and even tried to blast him with her magic. Coming back to the land of the living was really a boon or a bane for him Saito thought . That night after a hellish day of running and hiding Saito reached the ball that was being held for his bravery during the delaying action against the Alboinan army. Princess Henrietta awarded him the title of '  
Saito Chevalier de Hiraga ' officially he became a noble and was given the estate of des Ornieres as his estate. Saito's bad day was now turning into the best day in his life when a messenger arrives.

Henrietta POV

I was having a good time with my friends and other guests in the ball when a messenger from Germania enters the party with an urgent message. He came and stood right in front of my throne. He offered his salutation and asked my permission to read the letter. I asked him to provide it to one of my servants so I can read it later as I the special party for our victory against Albonia, but he refused and demanded that it is urgent and he was ordered by his emperor to read it directly to me. With no other choice I permitted him. His letter read "

 _By the order from the court of Germanian Empire I emperor Albert III request all human nations of Halkeginia to provide me with warriors to lead a grand invasion into the lands of the Elves and reclaim our holy land. The holy war has been declared. With the blessing from the pope himself We all shall march into elvish lands and destroy them with our grand army and make temple of Birmir on the heartland of their capital. "_

 _signed by Albert III_

 _seal of Romalia_

 _seal of Germanian Empire_

This letter hit everyone in the hall like a shockwave. they just survived a devastating war with Albion army and now they are being dragged to another war nonetheless a holy crusade against the Elves. The messenger after reading the letter turned back and went outside the royal palace and returned back to Germania. I was left dumb founded I thought " how the hell we are going to raise an army to defeat the elvish armies. I know all other nobles in the nation were gearing for the holy crusade but the people were tired for the recent conflict & then half of our army was in Albion acting as the occupation force. Only thing left was the militia that can be mustered to fight. That too our economy was in tatters due to the war. I immediately called off the party and ordered the council of war is to be setup as quick as possible.

Halkeginia, Germanian Empire,Arnus hill

General Adalard von Kassel was preparing his forces for the Grand invasion, He was confident in his army capabilities. though due to the gate being on the ground and King Joseph was unable to open a gate in the air for airships he had to make do with his ground forces. He was still confident in his army. The preparations have been for months but the former general of the army was called back and he replaced him. He was very happy due to being having all the glory for invading and liberating the holy land. A messenger arrives to his tent and presents him with a message with the seal of The emperor. This letter was directly given to him by his majesty himself not from any courtiers or other commanders from the capital. In the letter he found out that the land beyond the gates was not the elvish land that was thought scouts were able to acquire information that it was a land inhabited by humans as some of them were kidnapped by the scouts. This information was kept in secret as the preparation was gone too much and it was too late to call off the attack or it will be great disaster to their economy. So it was decided that he was to lead this expedition to the other side of the gate and proclaim it as their own territory and it is also a great chance for the extending the borders of their empire. Adalard was astonished, his campaign was not to retake the holy land but now was to extend the empire. Nonetheless he was happy to attain the glory for expanding his empire. He also found out the other general refused to lead the campaign so he was being disposed of treason. He was glad he didn't took the same decision as his predecessor. In the year 6243 month of Nyo day 28 Adalard led his army across the gate to the land unknown to be brought under the banner of Germanian empire.

End

Guys this is my first fanfic please review it.

Action begins in next chapter


	2. 1 Battle for Ginza

CH- 1 Battle for Ginza

Japan, Tokyo, Ginza district Year 2019 May 14 Sunday

Today was the most awaited day for Itami, He was going to attend the International Doujinshi, Anime and manga convention held in Ginza. He was saving for months for this convention. This event also was being first in the whole world where writers and publishers from all over the world came to participate in the grand event. Itami was glad he was in JGSDF ( Japan's Ground Self Defense Force ) not in JMSDF ( Japan's Maritime Self Defense Force ) as those poor guys were now participating in recent Malabar Naval exercise conducted by JMSDF, US Navy and Indian Navy. This time there were more participants in this exercise they were the Royal Navy & Royal Australian Navy. Itami boarded the train to Ginza and started browsing through recent news and events all over the world. The major news after Malabar exercise was sudden disappearance of certain individuals in Ginza district, next being the reopening of the case by the Police for a missing teenager namely Hiraga Saito in the residential district in Tokyo. It has been 1 and a half year since his disappearance. News reporters and conspiracy theorists were connecting Saito's case with the disappearance of individuals from the Ginza district as he also disappeared without a trace. Itami felt a little bad for that boy. With no further delay he quickly activated his online game the ' The Warrior's Quest' to pass his time. After disembarking from the train Itami went ahead through the station to acquire a taxi to the convention. There he saw a mob of civilians running towards the station and they were being attacked by dragons and Griffons. Losing no time Itami rushed towards the exit of the station in determination no stop this unnatural attack before the convention is cancelled.

Japan, Tokyo, Ginza district ( 15 minutes earlier )

A unknown Gate materialised in the middle of the road halting the traffic instantly. Cars piled up and people started examine what just happened. Some from the crowd started taking pictures of the unknown gate. Some brave ones even ventured near to the gate to see what is it & it came in to being in front of the street. They touched the gate to see it is not a holographic projection a recent development in the field of technological advancement. The structure was in gothic and roman design. It is to be said it was like the structural design from the Holy Roman Empire. Suddenly a dragon passed overhead the pedestrians and then a large army with men dressed in early renaissance and late Medieval fashion arrived through the gate with them were strange beings like orcs and even golems. The army was armed with medieval weapons to renaissance weapons. Some of them were even armed with early version of muskets though without a bayonet. They all looked European in race except the Orcs, trolls and golems. Without any warning the unknown army started playing their trumpets and drums and started attacking anyone and everyone in front of them. The army dragons that were flying in the sky started attacking building and civilians on the ground, The cavalry trampled unlucky souls under their hoops, soldiers started looting and pillaging the immediate area. The cars were overturned shops looted and set on fire, archers picked up civilians with their arrows, Musketeers fired indiscriminately into the crowd. The resistance to the Germania army was light here and there police officers fired at them with their pistols before being overwhelmed by their sheer numbers. With adding fuel to fire the cannons now crossed through the gate it to the new world.

General Adalard POV

When we entered through the gate I thought I would see a forest or a desert on the other side of the gate. I was surprised to see those glass towers touching the skies and building with heights I cannot imagine. As soon as we crossed through I ordered my troops to attack and subdue the population by this time we hadn't faced any serious resistance and our dragons ruled the skies. Though many officers asked why we are not attacking the elves but other humans. It was the state secret that forced my hand to not inform my men till the final hour of the invasion. But with promise of glory for the empire and getting part of the booty and place to settle in a new land convinced most of the soldiers to carry on. by the looks of these pathetic people here I doubt we will be needing rest of the army.

Japan, Tokyo, Imperial Palace.

Itami was able to guide the panicking civilians to escape towards the Imperial palace as it was the only feasible fortification in whole Tokyo city. In the way he killed some of these invaders with the help of weapons acquired from dead police officers. At the palace gates the palace guards were not ready to listen to Itami for letting the civilians inside the palace. But after a phone call which is presumed from his Majesty himself the gates were opened and people were let inside the palace.

Itami's POV

The situation is deteriorating with the passage of time though Metropolitan police was able to regroup near the Palace our numbers are too few. After some time riot police units started arriving and we started fortifying the palace gates and walls. SAT ( Special Assault Teams ) also arrived and reinforced the palace defences. I was given a MP5 SMG after I provided my identity as an off Duty SDF officer. We waited till the enemy army arrived from the Ginza. The enemy had taken control of the whole of Ginza district and were advancing towards other parts of the city. I saw many building those were civilians have taken shelter are being attacked by those dragons. They were set on fire by those dragons. The enemy slowly surrounded the whole Palace and started probing our defences. They first launched massed infantry assault but were quickly repulsed then again they assaulted with Testudo formation used by ancient Romans. Those formations might be useful against arrows but our guns shredded them to pieces. Another attack commenced with a massed volley of musket fire. We took some losses from those fire and then some from their formation started attacking our defences with lightning bolts and fire balls and a number variety of magical attacks which we were ill prepared and took heavy losses. But our concentrated fire mowed down their Pike men and even some mages of their army fell. Suddenly cannon fire erupted and started hitting the walls of the palace. The walls around the fort were hit hard. With ammo running low and constant artillery barrage we were now in doubt if we will be able to hold their next assault. Then a friendly chop chop sound was heard, when I look towards the sky I saw those flying angels from havens coming to save us, they were the apaches of the JGSDF with cobras with them. I also saw US army Blackhawks with them as they started pounding the enemy position with rocket and missile and cannon fire .

General Adalard POV

I was overseeing the siege of the enemy fort in front of me. their consolidated forces were able to repulse our 7 assaults towards the fort and we faced heavy losses we also lose some Germanian knights by defenders relentless fire. I was surprised how their muskets could fire rapidly while ours take a while to return fire so I used my magical knights to pin them down. Then out of nowhere I saw iron dragons came into view our dragons tried to intercept them but were mowed down in an instant then they started their relentless attack my ground forces. I was knocked my horse. I 'shouted how this happened' before consumed by another blast.

Japan, Tokyo , In front of Imperial Palace

With the invaders in disarray the Tokyo Riot Police fired their tear gas and charged into enemy formation. invading forces were completely caught off guard by this charge and routed from the battle. Soon the police forces were Relived by JSDF and US Marines from Okinawa Marine base.

With the constant flow of reinforcements the battle turned into a war of attrition. With superior technology and training JGSDF troopers were holding and pushing the enemy back towards the gate. But the advance by ground troops was halted by constant barrage of cannon fire from the enemy. Those 17th century cannons though primitive were still very much effective against soft vehicles to lightly armoured vehicles. Streets turned into full blown pitched battles between the combined forces of Riot Police, JGSDF, US marines and the invading army. Another advantage the enemy had was the mages in their army, those guys were the only ones capable of halting an Infantry assault. That too many buildings were turned into fortified structures by the enemy grinding the military advance to a halt. After the arrival of heavy armour and the air force did military was able to break through invader defences. The first day of the battle ended with a stalemate. On the 2nd day the Malabar combined fleet arrived at the ports of Tokyo and started providing fire mission to root out invaders from their hideout. After presumably destruction of their Headquarters near the gate their army began to rout and escape towards the gate. The combined forces pursued the invaders back to the gate capturing a number of them. Some of them even surrendered, after reaching the gate the immediate area was fortified for further enemy attacks with tanks, APCs , and machine gun nests.

The whole battle was fought for nearly 2 and a half day with major part of Ginza being turned into a battlefield. This battle was being one of the major battles in the coming war of Earth Empire War.

END

After taking consideration from one of my reviewers Sleipneir I re watched the anime and rectified the mistake i did in the setting of the story. I have changed the setting from 2 months to 1 yr and a half for saito's disappearance from earth. As it is more realistic as the things happened in the anime cannot be squeezed in the time frame of 2 months.

Thank you Sleipneir for pointing out by mistake.


	3. 2 battle for Ginza Pt2 and aftermath

Guys I am back again with a new chapter. I want to thank those reviewers who helped me to understand my errors and mistakes.

GREAT CELESTIAL-DRAGON - Thanks for your suggestion, this chapter was meant to be only aftermath and POVs of OCs and I am going to add in my story. but after your review and rewrote the whole chapter and made the battle scenes and detailed as much as I can. so thank you for your productive suggestion.

ariqghifari - I have taken your chapter by heart and decided and give more time and details to my battle scenes and also give my chapters 2000 or more words . So thank you for your suggestion.

Well I have taken too much of your time so back to the story.

This chapter is about the personal experience of these military officers and also aftermath of the battle.

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CH- 2 Battle for Ginza pt 2 & Aftermath.

Earth, Japan, Tokyo

Colonel O'Brien ,US marines 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit.

After Taking Command of this unit I never thought I would be fighting some 17th century invading force attacking a modern metropolitan city. Yes facing terrorist or Chinese or Russians was believable there are some tension mounting up between the Japanese and Chinese again.

That fateful day I was contacted by our ambassador to Japan in Tokyo that they are under attack by unknown attackers in medieval and early renaissance armour and weaponry. The Marine detachment are holding the line but ammo would soon be running low.

Immediately I ordered a QRF to be sent to the Embassy and also prepare the 1st battalion 2nd Marines for deployment in Tokyo.

I even contacted the Carrier Group that had been in participation in the Malabar exercise.

From the looks of the constant news and reports from the ground the situation was a state of chaos. when my marines landed in the grounds of the embassy the marine detachment guarding the building were nearly out of ammo and had taken heavy losses. Most of them had resorted to hand to hand fighting .

Our forces pushed the invaders back from the embassy grounds and the choppers provided logistic support. In the mean time 22nd MEU landed on the shores of Tokyo and started supporting local Law enforcement in holding the ground and even pushing them back.

By the time JSDF Infantry and armour support with Air units joined the fray. We pushed them back to their gate.

It was really unbelievable to see those ancient guys hold out for that long. we got even reports of use of some kind of fire, ice , water weapons on our soldiers, in many engagements when their forces retreating one of their so called mages in their army would create a wall of hardened ice or a stone wall to slow our advance . They even fortified the immediate area under their control and used their vintage cannons and magic to slow our advance. After the arrival of the combined Malabar exercise fleet only we were able to completely rout them and force them back to the gate.

1st Lieutenant Takeo Shinji JGSDF POV.

I am part of Eastern Army 1st Division. 1st Infantry Regiment camped in Nerima. We were responsible for the defence of our nation's capital Tokyo. We always thought our enemies also come from the seas to invade our homeland. We prepared ourselves accordingly.

Never in the life I thought our capital will be invaded, and that too these guys are some medieval period with a fantasy touch in it. From early reports for the police and news agencies we were fighting with fantasy beasts like the dragons and even sketchy reports of having mages in their ranks.

It was like an army invading from some shitty manga or anime universe, I thought some of my comrades wishes for living in a fantasy world came true. Just we are not living but outright fighting them.

I was quickly deployed by my regiment under 1st division. We reached the city with the support of 12th Brigade (Air assault) and US marines " just arrived from their bases in Okinawa. We pushed them back from the Imperial Palace grounds and drove them back to their controlled part of the city.

(2 days later)

After the arrival of our Division and US marine Battalion 2 days ago we were absolutely confident in our technological superiority and hoped to push these guys from they came from. It after 3 hours after our advance did we faced heavy resistance from the invading army. Their magic using soldiers blocked our advance on all the fronts by blocking the roads with walls of ice and rocks. Sometimes they used their stone golems to attack our positions. These rock hard bastards were the ones which inflicted heavy losses on our forces. As many platoons weren't armed for anti-tank combat, They never thought they would be facing stone or rock demons . They were armed with rifles and machine guns. In some instances our forces were forced back by those stone monstrosities.

Air cover was covering our backs by fighting those dragons up in the sky so we got light ground support from our choppers. High command decided not to use Fixed wing aircrafts to fight those dragons at first to minimize collateral damage and also dragons were flying low making fixed wing aircrafts ineffective. Well no one wanted to crash their fighter into one of the buildings.

It was not until our tanks arrived from the base did we started pushing them back again. Our armoured corps soon got support from American tanks after they landed their Tanks from Okinawa at the shores.

Still those invaders rallied up to again grind our advance to slow. Their mages used their magic to create their walls of stones and ice. Though they were useless against our tanks advance. They started fortifying buildings and using them as strongholds to slow us down. Tanks had to blew holes in those building to destroy those points.

But they held on though slowly being pushed back towards their entry point. Their mages used their power to create shields for their troops armed with muskets to fire at us. Those musketeers were shitty in their aim but still some times got lucky. Their magic shields were able to hold several shots from our soldiers, But failed after being overwhelmed by sheer firepower.

The first day ended with a stalemate. We were able to take 40 % of Ginza district back from them. My company had 69 deaths and 100 plus wounded that day. We were lucky to have support of an APC from the beginning of our advance. Other units weren't so lucky. They faced losses due to golems counter attack and even attack from those mages .

From the reports from the battlefield we lost some 5 tanks and 7 other were immobilised. Again thanks those stone golems. They ambushed our armour Forces inside the city and inflicted losses to our tanks and APCs in the battle, slowing our advance even further and forcing high command to rethink their strategy and how to counter invading army's ambush tactics.

Air battle was still in full swing. Enemy got their reinforcements of air units i.e. dragons through the gate diverting our air assets to counter them.

That night they tried to counter attack on all the fronts. But their attack was bogged down. We killed many of them and forced them to retreat again. They again tried another counter attack but this time on a single front.

Unlucky for them it was our position. Their commander from the looks of his uniform who was in a decorated dress with filled with medals tried to lead the charge. He used his Ice shield to cover his troops. It was really amazing to see the large moving ice wall moving slowly towards us.

We held our fire until they were 200 feet from our position. Then my captain ordered our sniper up on the building side to our position to take out their officer. Without any delay a shot was heard from our flanks which hit directly into head of that mage. His head exploded and his brain matter scattered all around his soldiers. the round also killed four other soldiers behind him. His ice wall fell and his troops still stunned by their officer's death saw what was waiting for them.

We opened fire and destroyed their lines. They tried to charge but were cut down by our fire. One of those American tanks arrived to support our position and fired a grape shot in to their ranks which decimated their assault. Then our air support arrived, Apaches and cobras strafed their lines while they retreated back to their lines.

Next day news came that the combined Malabar exercise fleet arrived to support our advance. We again pushed on destroying their makeshift barricades to stop us. Accurate missile strikes from the Destroyers from the fleet finally forced them back to their base.

Slowly but surely our tanks and other armoured vehicles pushed them back to their gate . While we were liberating the parts of the city we saw the horrors these bastards committed to our people. Bodies of slain civilians were lying everywhere the stench was unbearable and many from my platoon threw up.

The Ginza district was in ruins. Malabar combined fleet fire had reduced many standing building in rubble.

I was given duty to collect bodies of the civilians and rescue if any civilian is found trapped in the area.

I don't know how many bodies our group collected that day. It was innumerable and also unbearable for me. I know these scene of this battle will haunt me for days to come.

Those bastards didn't spared even women and children in their path of destruction. I promise myself to make these barbarians pay for their deeds. And vengeance will be earned.

Jonas Quine corpsmen US Marines POV,

Our troops faced light loses during the battle for Ginza. It cannot be said for the Japanese and civilians casualties sustained during the battle. The after action report for the battle is still to come, but from my sources we lost 162 marines, 15 from the defense of embassy. Other loses were sustained due to invading forces capabilities in magic or same kind of shit. There other weapons were useless unless unused in close combat. Their magical stone monsters were the ones that inflicted heavy losses on the allied armies. Those creatures would ambush our troops while we advanced and even were able to take out some of the JGSDF tanks out of action. They used to throw discarded cars and chunks of debris towards our lines. When air cover, tanks and sea based support took them out we pressed forward to attack.

I know our troops were excellent in city combat that was the main reason for our light losses in the battle. We also sustained 200 wounded, 10 from embassy defence. The casualty report of civilians hadn't arrived yet but I know it is going to be high. I heard from some of my platoon members they found a large pile of bodies of the civilians and a flag posted on them.

it was horrifying to know about this as my platoon didn't took part in the final assault against their main strong hold at the mouth of the gate.

BBC

Ladies and gentlemen welcome to BBC world news

Yesterday at 9:45 am an unknown portal also known as gate opened in the middle of Ginza district in Tokyo.

From the portal a large unknown army arrived through the gate and started attacking the pedestrians and onlookers gathered around the gate.

we see a total 5000 + civilian casualty not counting loses faced by law enforcement forces. Reports also about the death of nearly 1000 foreign Tourists and civilians during the attack. Casualties reports suggest about 150 British citizens were killed others including American , Canadian, Russian, Taiwanese , Korean, French, and Indian were also counted as fatal casualties during the battle. Many foreign embassies were also attacked by the invading force.

Canadian, Indian and French embassies fell during the attack.

Nearly 1000 more civilian are missing during the battle presumably taken to other side of the gate.

Coming to military loses total 2000 deaths have been accounted in the fighting 60% are constituted by the JSDF followed by US marine with 162 deaths and 200 wounded . Indian, French and Canadian embassies with whole guard unit of the embassy wiped out during the attack.

Tokyo Metropolitan Police also lost nearly 400 of its brave police officers those responded to initial attack and were able to slow their advance letting civilians to escape.

( new reports are provided to the reporter)

Just in United nations security council has decided to sent Military support to the Japanese Govt for the push into the other side of the gate, also formal declaration of a state of war has been declared by the UN General assembly against the invading force that spilled the blood of innocent civilians at the street of Tokyo.

Japan, National Diet, May 20, 2019

Prime Minister Hojo Shigenori was viewing the report and formal declaration by the UN to send troops through the gate. His ministry was divided in the decision by the UN security council without the consent of the Japanese Government on this matter. The national diet was in uproar, supporters of the declaration were countering the opposition.

He knew this was going to happen, he knew his ministry will be divided, he also knew that world will be not overlook the death of their own citizens. He feared denial of UN Forces would have backlash like no other. He was even contacted by their known closet ally USA that if he doesn't accepts the deployment of troops Japan would also face economical repercussions not only from them but also other countries including Britain and France.

He had to decide fast before the diet members turn on each other. With a loud bash on his table he silenced the whole cabinet and gave them a speech about what was in his mind.

" Gentlemen, I say that we should allow UN in our mission for getting justice for our people. They also have their responsibility to their people, we cannot deny them their rights."

One of the council member objects " Mr Prime minister how can you allow foreign troops on the ground of our capital, is it not allowing military occupation of our own land."

Another member stands up and counters " councilman how can you not see this other worldly invaders mot only killed our own people but also numerous other foreign tourist and even delegates of their embassies. Denying them will only cause friction between our governments."

then again Diet fell into chaos of accusation and counter accusation.

After some time Shigenori again twitched his microphone to say again and the diet fell silent.

"My fellow countrymen see what these invaders have done to us. They came into our land Killed our people. Attacked our allies, burned our capital. Re building the Ginza district is going to strain our resources and economy. From my sources nearly a 100 million dollars are going to be needed for reconstruction. If we allow them in then half of the costs from reconstruction are going to be paid by the UN. Denying them is denying aid to the nation. We are also denying them have their justice served to their people. You should see what is happening all over the affected countries. They are asking for vengeance their government is also supporting their masses."

an opposition member stands up and speaks up " What Mr. Prime Minister has said is right. we need that support and we also don't want to be a bad guy in front of the world. "

( applause is heard all over the Diet in approval of PMs speech)

Shigenori thought to himself " _Oh the speech worked, I was thinking to deliver the final blow that denying UN involvement means Economic Blockade on Japan which we are now ill-prepared to face"_

With the speech Shignori prepared to gear his country up for war with the help of UN and bring justice to the dead of the battle of Ginza.

END.

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Well many might think why Ginza incident is called Battle of Ginza in my fic, well because it wasn't as pushover like against those Falmart imperials.

Next chapter going to come is CH- counter attack

stay tuned


	4. 3 The Counter Attack

Guys i am back with another chapter. After reviewing some comments on the review section about grammar and sentence structure i have tried my level best to be up to their mark in correcting my errors.

But still there might be some mistakes here and there so don't mind, okay.

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CH-3 The counter attack.

Halkeginia, Germanian Empire, Arnus hill. ( Invasion day +2)

Captain Vance de Teree POV

I was preparing my troops for reinforcing our troops in the front. The expedition was going well on the 1st day of attack. Though instead of elves land we invaded a different world. Our brave troops marched on and took enemy by complete surprise. We slaughtered many of those Barbarians, Those weak peasants ran for their lives from our army. Then reports started arriving from the other side our advance was halted and the enemy is counterattacking. More bad news started arriving from the other side. Legion after legion were being decimated, our cannons are been rendered useless and destroyed . Our Dragon corps sent to the other side were being butchered by enemies own dragon. They are furiously attacking on all our fronts. Another news we got that one of the most experienced Generals of our empire had been slain. His 2nd in command took over and fought on. This new of losing our commanding officer really hit the morale of our army. It all happened 2 and a half ago. Now my unit was being prepared to reinforce our lines there.

Suddenly I saw a commoner soldier came running from other side of the gate. I caught hold of him and asked " where are you going, the front is that way"

He answered " Sir Command structure is being hit, The Front has collapsed, our army is in rout."

Then I saw more soldiers came out of the gate many of them wounded and being carried by their comrades.

I thought to myself " _These commoners have no honor they run from the face of the enemy, they shouldn't be allowed to live, they are a disgrace to the empire"_

Then I saw captain Albert running with the commoners i thought " _What he is doing he should stand and fight not run away. What kind of a noble is he ?"_

I rode to him and shouted " Sir Albert where are you going ? "

He stopped and answered " To your commanding officer, we have to barricade the gate. "

I asked " why ?"

He answered " you don't know what we are facing there ( pointing towards the gate) they are too powerful we lost nearly 5 legions there "

I was stunned to hear that.

He continued running and after some time brought a group of noble knights with him. They quickly ushered a layer of Ice and stone in front of it to block the gate. This act quickly blocked near one- third of the remaining army on the other side .

I could hear their cries to undo the barricade but it was unheard.

slowly the cries stopped, I presume they gone back to through the gate to surrender to the enemy with no choice left for them.

( 1 week later )

Much needed reinforcements arrived from the capital. The gate was cordoned off and cannons were placed in vantage points in order to be very effective. Dragon corps and 2nd Army also joined us.

I saw General Bolivard came to the front to check the proceeding of the Blockade.

I went to him offered my salutation and asked him " Sire why doesn't we destroy the gate, it will stop the enemy from coming through. "

He answered " Captain by the order of his majesty he refrained us from doing so. He said destroying the gate would also cause the void to go unstable and might even damage our world as a whole so now we can only dig in and prepare for the enemy counter attack."

I saluted him again and went back to my post. I know now that we can only wait for the enemy to counter attack to come. We will be prepared to push those barbarians back from where they come from.

Japan, Tokyo , Ginza District, June 25 2019

It has been a month since the arrival of UN task force to Japan. They set up their primary base in the foothills of Mount Fuji. The Flag of United Nations flies among the flag of the nations participated in the operation to gain justice for the innocent civilians killed during the Battle of Ginza. Italy sent an infantry unit of 500 soldiers with M113 APCs. They are followed by Germany and Canada who agreed on a tank battalion composed of 1.000 soldiers and 20 Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks. Since their armies use the same tank, they share the logistics . The British did not send any heavy armour, just light artillery and light vehicles with infantry. They will share the Bradley IFVs with the Americans since they have been trained on them. The U.S. brought 20 tanks too, their M1A2 Abrams and other armour vehicles . India had sent 200 soldiers with 10 of their Arjun M.k II tanks. Followed by French who sent 400 soldiers and 10 Leclerc with artillery pieces of their own. Russian have agreed to provide transport facilities with artillery support. South Korea has been ready to provide logistics support.

With international troops the Japanese didn't lag behind they prepared to deploy 8000 soldiers with 50 tanks and other support equipment.

The whole UN task force with JSDF stood prepared in front of the gate. The Japanese were 1st to enter through the gate followed by USA and other nations.

Prime minister Motoi Shinzo stood on the stage and addressed the troops, followed by UN representative who also announced them their goal is to find the culprits for the attack bring him or her to justice. After him General Hazama Of JSDF addressed his troops. Following him was Lieutenant General O'Brien recently promoted for his quick reaction of sending 31st MEU to support during the battle of Ginza ,Joint commander of UN task force special region.

Then the order came to advance The Type 90 tanks of the JSDF entered the gate for the beginning of the counter offensive against the invaders. Among them was 1st Lieutenant Youji Itami, after his action during the battle of Ginza he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant.

( Inside the command APC )

"General Hazama our scouts drones have provided the report that other side of the gate is barricaded, but from the small opening on the top we see enemy fortifications been dug. They are prepared for us" Lieutenant General O, Braine commented.

" Ltr General O'Brien I know they have set up their defences quite far, i think they are as scared as we are of the unknown." Hazama said

"Sir Tanks have broken through the wall they have set up a perimeter around the exit point, asking for instructions." A soldier said to Hazama.

" Tell them to prepare for an attack, if the enemy charges then open fire" Hazama answered.

" Whom are we opposing ? " O'Brien Asked though he know he just want to refresh the information.

" According to the Prisoners we captured during the battle of Ginza we found out they are from an Empire Known are Germanaian Empire. Quite a coincident though. Those guys might be related to the Germans." Hazama chuckled. He continued " They even speak ancient Germanic language . It took some time even for the German translators to translate what they are saying. " Hazama finished and gave a file to O'Brien.

O'Brien reviewed it. He found that these guys were trying to open a gate to elves territory but by mistake the gate opened in Japan. Regardless they decided to Invade and grow their territory and influence to the new world according to them. As per their society there are a privileged class of nobles. these guys are trained to do magic. Someone will think the written stuff of magic is a sick joke but during the battle of Ginza those guys are really a pain on the ass. These nobles rules on everything, they control the non magic or commoners population. These poor Bastards are damned for eternal servitude to the nobles. Another fact that after knowing our world is devoid of magic one of the nobles tried to show his authority upon some MPs on the prison island which is provided by the Japanese to keep the prisoners. He got beaten up by those same MPs after he insulted them. those nobles are cheeky bastards. Around 6000 were taken prisoners and 60,000 were killed during the battle. The enemy weapons consists of mostly melee weapons. They also possess early 16th century muskets and cannons, from light to heavy siege cannons. These cannons can be a problem, but they are ill matched to even dent the modern tank armour, Then they have dragons at their disposal, those creatures really caused problems for the police and early QRF units before being shot down by attack helicopters. Normal AA batteries send with the force can be able to penetrate those dragon armour. Another point to be noted that these nobles or mages whatever they are quite easy to be defeated if their wands are taken from them. Without their wands they are defenceless can also be captured for interrogation.

( an hour later )

" Sir enemy army is making a move according to our units across the gate they are gearing for an attack." the soldier informed Hazama.

" Well then open fire give them hell" O'Brien ordered

The soldier eyed towards Hazama. He nodded and command passed to all available units on the other side of the gate to open fire on the enemy.

Halkeginia, Germanian Empire, Arnus hill. ( 10 minutes before contact )

Captain Vance de Teree was having a good day, like another day from last week. The so called enemy counter attack has yet to arrive. His soldiers were relaxing, drinking and dancing all around the camp. They celebrated like there was no war going on at all. If it is up to him he will have them punished but today was one of the holiest day in whole Halkeginia. Today is celebrated as the day when the founder Brimir was born according to the legends . His Majesty has ordered a holiday for all noblemen from duties for a whole day. This day was not a day to be celebrated by the commoners as this day when they came under the rule of the nobles and became their servants forever. But celebrations for the founder's birthday was celebrated all over the continent. This day people both commoners and nobles go to the churches to pray and celebrate the whole day by partying, dancing and drinking. Some officers even started to think the enemy is scared of their courage which other nobles shown them during the grand invasion a month ago. Captain Vance himself was thinking about it. He thought those barbarians on the other side might be waiting for their counter attack and fortifying their own defences.

The celebrations were going in full swing, it was not until a sentry on guard duty near the gate came running shouting " They are here , they are here ".

A officer caught hold of him and asked " who is here ? "

He answered " enemy from the otherworld, they broke through the barricade, they are setting up for battle near the mouth of the gate. "

Captain Vance quickly reacted " get this news to the general & prepare the army for battle. "

Troops started arming themselves and putting their armour on. In short notice General Hendrich came and reviewed his army's position.

He commanded " Prepare the heavy cannons to fire we can box them in the mouth of the gate with our artillery. "

He then turned to his 2nd in command " Prepare the cavalry and the dragon riders for the counter attack to drive them back towards their side of the gate we cannot let them gain a foothold here."

His 2nd in command saluted and ordered and orderly to relay this order to other commanders.

( An hour later )

With the army ready General ordered the cannons to be prepared for the opening barrage towards the enemy position.

Suddenly like the enemy was watching their every move when the cannons were loaded the enemy lines erupted to cannon and gun fire. They fired with an unbelievable rate. At first the cannons were destroyed then their muskets blew hole in the entire formation. Dragons were shot down by unknown light firing towards them. With the whole line in complete chaos. the enemy charged from the hills.

Vance was about to try to run away from the battlefield but was struck by a blast from an enemy artillery. He was knocked out due to the blast. Vance regained his consciousness and slowly tried to get up but then a chilling pain struck him. He looked down towards his legs and he saw they were gone. His legs were gone and he was in his own pool of blood. He wanted to scream and cry his eyes out but his pride as a noble complied him not to but the pain was too much for him and tears started to roll down his eyes due to pain.

He saw that the whole front was already collapsed. He looked around, the battle was already over and enemy soldiers were moving through bodies of his deceased soldiers. These soldiers were wearing green uniform and no body armour and were holding weird muskets in their hands. One from them saw him he was alive and came running towards him.

Gunnery Sgt James shepard , 31st MEU POV

After the ceremony, Our forces were ordered to move forward into the gate. The Japs were 1st to enter, our marine unit and US army armour regiment sent to reinforce us entered through the gate followed by other nations military contingents. It took nearly one hour to cross through the gate. After we were through our radio came to life.

" Overlord to all elements prepare a perimeter and secure the gate and wait for further instructions. "

As ordered we came out our of our AAV ( Assault Amphibious Vehicle) and started taking defensive positions along to JSDF troops came before us. Our captain brought out his binoculars and was started to recon enemy cannon emplacement, but what he saw next amused him and a broad smile came upon his face. Seeing this I asked him

" Captain what is so funny about them ? "

he replied " Gunny see it yourself" and tossed me his binoculars

what I saw myself also amused me and I thought what an incompetent army we are facing. Their cannon redoubts were empty none of them were manned, Then inside the camp I saw our enemy was celebrating, they were dancing singing, shouting and even drinking. We might have just attacked them on one of their new years or something like that I thought.

I asked my captain again " Sir why aren't we firing upon them they are there with their pants down. "

Roe gunny we can't fire upon them unless fired upon.

For an hour or so we held our position during the same time our enemy had known our arrival and were preparing for an attack, but they were woefully prepared to face us as I saw through my binoculars many of their men were drunk hell even their officers were drunk to their core. I saw one of their commanders fell from his horse unconscious due to have been drinking too much.

During the meantime our lines were also bolstered by the arrival of our whole unit . We were flanked by our tanks, AAVs, LAVs and Japanese APCs and SPGs and AA guns.

I heard on the radio that enemy were preparing their cannons to fire on us, and their dragons were now in the air to cover their army which was forming ranks to begin their attack.

Colonel Minoso asked command that enemy cannons were being prepared to fire on us and we have all rights to retaliate as per ROE. From the looks of his face I knew the order he wanted got to him.

He ordered to his radioman " Play this order on all frequencies " his radioman adjusted his radio the he spoke " all combat elements open fire I repeat open fire toast those bastards ass holes. "

The whole line erupted in gunfire, our tanks destroyed their cannon positions before they became a threat. JSDF anti aircraft batteries shot down all the enemy dragons from the sky. Our tank after destroying their cannons turned their attention towards enemy infantry that was marching towards our position. They blew holes in their ranks. Japanese artillery also fired in to enemy formations decimating them and turning their attack in chaos and confusion.

Seeing our enemy in disarray Col. Minoso took the initiative and ordered a full frontal armour charge towards the enemy. We moved back from our present position to give our tanks room.

After getting all clear all the tanks moved forward followed by APCs, AAVs LAVS and other armoured vehicles. We followed them with our humvees and HMVs. I could hear screams of enemy troops coming from their lines. Well it happens when a tank is charging towards your position and you are armed with a spear or a sword .

We reached the enemy lines everything was already over. these bastards were just slaughtered like lambs. They weren't even able to scratch our tanks just made their threads dirty. Some of the bodies were pasted to the ground as our tanks ran over them. Many of our enemy soldiers were running away from the battlefield, Ceasefire order was given and we were ordered not to waist ammunition on routing enemy soldiers. We were ordered to police the bodies and find for survivors, if the survivors wounds had gone too far then we can end their misery with our own discretion.

While moving through the bodies I saw someone alive but barely. His eyes were open and he was crying silently waiting for his demise. I ran to him and checked him. His legs were served due to artillery fire as he was beside an impact creator. He had also lost too much blood and due to his legs he was in excruciating pain. I knew it when I looked into his eyes.

His eyes were begging me to relieve his pain. I hesitated that boy was not even 18 years old, I thought which country could send children to fight their wars.

Out of sudden he caught hold of my gun muzzle and put it on his forehead, I knew he wanted that, I knew relieving him from the pain he was in will be an act of mercy. I pressed the trigger and ended his life relieving his sole from the pain he was suffering.

I moved on to join my platoon those were policing the bodies on the other side of the battle field. That boys face is still comes in front of my eyes when i try to sleep. This battle was not a battle at all it was a massacre. We soldiers can't regret for the enemies but we are still human beings.

A Germanian soldier POV

My company was nearly wiped out, those nobles who always boast their superiority on us being commoner soldiers were first to die by this other worldly enemy. Our dragons were falling left and right from the sky.

Then the order came from my sgt to brace for the charge.

Then I saw them. They were massive carriages of iron and steel. our weapons were ineffective against their armour. they just charged on running over our infantry and cavalry and blew fire from their snouts. They were truly iron elephants.

I tried to run away from them but i felt a severe pain on my right leg. I saw I was hit by some kind of a very powerful musket ball as my leg was nowhere to be found. that iron elephant came towards me, I tried to crawl away but slowly was crushed by it. I shouted as high as I can before falling silent.

Special region, location -unknown

The battle was one of the most one sided battle to be fought in modern military history. Many Historians still speculate this battle not be an actual fight but massacre. In the sense later reports from prisoners found out that there were celebrations going in the camps of the enemy and many officers were drunk to their core making the organisation in the army a mess.

After the so called battle the UN Task Force special region started policing the battlefield. Searching for survivors. Very few survived the initial onslaught. Most of them being common soldiers surrendered due to some kind of injury. They were taken in care by the Geneva convention, To pre set up camps and aid stations on the other side of the gate.

Soon UN forces started setting up Forward operations base (FOB) on the mouth of the gate. Soon whole UN Task force was on the special region side of the gate.

( Command tent) UNTF base, Endurance

General Hazama was reviewing the after action report from the battle with his command staff. When Ltr General O'Brien entered. Hazama saluted and greeted him to join them. O' Braine was accompanied by Major General Dietrich of the German army, Commandant Jean- Baptiste sabatier of the French forces, Colonel Raj Singh of Indian forces, Brigadier Johns smith of the British contingent and other international officers forming the UN command staff.

Hazama spoke " How many loses do we suffer ? "

1st Lieutenant Yagida answered " None sir, we faced no casualties at all. From the looks of it they were totally unprepared to face our forces at all. When our units broke through our scouts found out that they were in kind of a celebration inside their camp. They put up some token defences against our attack. Only ones putting up some serious resistance were those Mages of theirs putting up shield walls of thick ice, earth, stones and even their stone giants to face us. Their shields might be able to hold up from 9mm to 5.56 mm rounds for some time , but 7.62 & 50 calibre rounds passed their shields like knife through butter."

" Their stone giants and humanoids were the only ones to lead the attack but our tanks mowed them down some even crumbled back to dust when the mages controlling them were putdown for good " commented Ltr General Dietrich.

" So from the looks of it our forces hold technological superiority against them." Commandant Sabatier said.

" We shouldn't under estimate their forces those mages and their abominations would be able to inflict significant loses if they ambush our forces." Col. Raj Singh pointed out.

" We know during the battle of Ginza these guys were the ones who slowed our advance. Without them we would have just rolled in and took the gate on the first day of the battle. Hell we would have defeated them in just 5 hours of our forces arrival" O'Brien said.

" From after action report we came to know their range of attack magic is limited to a certain distance, and too they might be only in the officer corps of their army. " Brigadier john smith said.

" We still don't Known their full capability, like those dragons, trolls or whatever they are they were the only ones putting some effective resistance against us during the battle before being pushed over by our air and armour support." Hazama pointed out.

" From the firearms technology they are in their rudimentary stage. Their forces were armed with early flintlock muskets. Though those are practically useless against our troops body armour." Dietrich said

" Okay Gentlemen the meeting is over everybody get back to your posts we have to prepare this FOB as quickly as possible and place defences around it or we are open to their counter attack. They still have numbers in their side and we cannot advance without securing this position here . So we should prepare our defences accordingly." O'Brien said.

The Command staff of UN task force and JSDF saluted and went back to their designated positions for the preparation of a possible enemy counter attack.

Germania, Vindobona, Imperial Palace (8 days after counter attack )

Emperor Albert III was in his war room with his generals formulating and discussing a counter attack to drive the enemy forces based on Arnus hill back to their side of the gate . The room was filled with all the experienced military commanders Germanian empire can offer. Emperor looked towards the map his empire. The site of Arnus hill was pointed out for him. His major concern was that of the enemy position. The hill was near the border of both Tristania and Gallia. It is nearly 120 Leagues from the meeting point of 3 kingdoms making it a very best place for launching attacks all over the continent.

" Your highness " one of his generals called him. " we are in a very delicate situation here. Those out worlders can use this hill as a strategic location for further expansion into our lands and beyond."

" That is why I have called all of you gentlemen here for the preparation for a counter attack against them." the emperor said.

" Sire we have been able to bring 2 armies from the provinces in east to reinforce our under strength capital defense army. By your orders militias have been raised to meet the enemy if any major town or city is attacked. " General Gotfried of the capital defense army said.

" that's good news" Emperor replied.

" Sire with the 3 armies along with capital defense army we have nearly 120'000 men to fight them. We have also able to muster 5000 dragons and nearly the same number of a orcs and trolls combined. We have also large number of artillery pieces. " General Gotfried said.

" I propose we send the counter attack force immediately before their army is properly entrenched. " one of nobles said.

" I second to that " Said the general of the army of centre General Hanczel.

" Then it is set, by my order general Hanczel take the command of the 2 armies available to you and drive those out worlders from our land ." Emperor ordered.

" As you wish my lord" General Hanczel replied and bowed before his emperor and goes out of the room to lead his army.

After a few moments another person enters the war room. He was dressed in a expensive and highly decorated uniform. He was none other than General Phillip of the Gallian army. When the emperor saw him he greeted him and welcomed to the room.

one of the nobles asked " Your highness why general Phillip of gallian army is here ? "

"Because I asked the support of Gallia to fight these invaders to our land." replied the emperor. He also added " Gallia had the 2nd most powerful fleet after us. With our own fleet being tied up in the occupation of Albion with half of our army we can only get their support to fight the invaders. "

" Your majesty I have brought the fleet as promised by my king to support your counter attack" General Phillip said.

" How many ships you have brought general ? " General Gotfried asked.

" 10 ships in total general Gotfried" Phillip replied.

" Those ships would be enough to drive those invaders back " Emperor chuckled. He added " I almost felt pity for them almost. "

The room was filled with laughter easing the tension inside the room for a small amount. One of the officers from the capital defense came in saluted and then gave the news that Tristain had sent a small army of 400 men accompanied by 50 griffon knights.

" Well what you waiting for call their commander in, I want to meet him personally and thank him for the little help they sent." Emperor ordered.

One of the nobles asked " Sire we don't need those Tristain soldiers, we have enough men to overwhelm our enemy . "

Another noble was about to present his view but emperor raised his hand silencing him. Few moments later General Gramont of Tristain army along with captain Napoleon gandere of the griffon knights arrived into the war room. Gandere was followed by a boy not more than 16 -17 yrs old with black hair and he wore a very odd dress. Along with him was a girl of same age with pink hair. Beside them was another boy in blonde hair and had a broad smile on his face.

" General Gramont it's a pleasure to meet you" emperor said. Gesturing him to come and joins them at the table. Gramont understands and head towards the table with his escorts waiting for him outside the room.

" The pleasure is all mine your highness " He says " Our army is ready to assist you in your campaign against the otherworld invaders. "

" Don't joke General we see you have only brought 450 men and a group of children to support us." a noble comments

" Don't underestimate them sire they are very good soldiers and also good nobles from whom we can depend on." Gramont answers.

" You are brave enough to come to join us against the invaders. I thought your Queen would not send any of her soldiers after you lost 300 of your men during the defence of the on our side of the Gate nearly 8 days ago." General Gotfried said.

" Her highness is responsible enough to send more of Tristain soldiers for the defence of the continent against other world invaders. As a noble it is her and our duty to defend our lands against them. " Gramont replies to Gotfried.

" And she sends children to fight our war" Gotfried chuckles " How pathetic "

" I say again General do not under estimate them and don't mock her highness in front of me " Gramont replies while slightly losing his temper.

After watching the situation going south emperor intervenes by changing the topic." Do you mind General Gramont if you call them in and introduce them to us."

Gramont signals one of the guards standing in the room to call them in.

( 10 minutes earlier )

Outside of the room Louise , Saito, Guiche and Napoleon was standing waiting for their commanding officers to return from the war room. Guiche broke the silence by starting a conversation between them. He asked " Do you all think it was wise to sent our best troops here to fight those invaders ? "

Louise replied " of course it is the right thing to do, we are facing invaders from another world, We don't know what kind of magic they can use to fight us. That's the reason why her highness sent us here to help the combined army to fight them" she turns towards Saito and says" isn't it Saito ".

Saito was lost in his thoughts when Louise asked him. Due to that he unheard her question. Louise poked him again to get an answer. She Says " Saito aren't you listening to me or not. What are you thinking about now. "

Saito gets back from his thoughts and answers her " I was thinking about how those alien invaders might be like, and why knowing clearly that the portal was not opened to the land of the elves did Germanians invade any way. This is not right to attack someone without any proper reason. "

" Because Germania is an empire " Napoleon enters their conversation " all Empires always wants to expand their territory and spread their influence into other lands. Though being one of the most barbaric and down to earth country they are still an empire. See at their army they have the largest army in the whole world and now are constructing a powerful navy with the help of Gallia to be a major player in other kingdom affairs also. Her highness doesn't want to be in their bad side when Germania has a fleet par with Gallia not counting the army which is the largest not being that well equipped."

Guiche whispers " You know Saito Germania still supports the old ways of slavery in their society. They literally have slave markets in the west side of the capital where all slums are located. "

Saito was shocked to know about the revelation. He felt disgusted after knowing about this. he said "I never knew about this Kirche never told me about that."

" Yes she will not, It will present her as an barbarian to all of us in the academy. I can guarantee her estate might be having a number of those slaves to work for them." Louise replied.

Before Saito could say anything, the door of the war room opens and three of them are summoned into the room. The three of them enters the room and bow before the emperor as a sign of respect.

General Gramont starts introducing them to the emperor and his council of war. " Here this young man is my son Guiche de Gramont he single handily captured Oliver Cromwell during his invasion of Tristain. He is also the leader of the Ondine Knights from the order of the knights of Tristain." Guiche bows again to the emperor.

Gramont continued " This young women is Louise de la Valliere. third daughter of the Valliere family and a void mage. She aided the fight during the Failed Albonian invasion of Tristain and also supported during the counter invasion of Albonia. " Louise also bows to others in respect.

" This young man here is the same person who held off Albonian counter attack and was able to save our forces from getting totally decimated by Albonian army. He alone held off the whole Albonian army. He is none other than Saito Chevalier de Hiraga a noble and familiar to miss De Villaire. He is the Gandalfr."

With this eyes of the Emperor and many council members widened to know that a void mage and her familiar nonetheless a Gandalfr was standing in front of them.

After their introductions the council returned back to their discussion and planning of upcoming counter attack to come. This time joined by Louise, Guiche and Saito. General Gotfried proposes that the Tristain army should be kept in the reserve with the capital defence army. But Gramont counters by saying " Every available men are required to take back Arnus. " But the emperor asks them to stay as reserve as the large army of 120'000 men with the Fleet of 10 ships and also an army of 5000 gallian soldiers and knights are heading towards Arnus under the command of General Hanczel commanding the Germanians and General Phillip commanding the Gallian forces respectively are on their way to Arnus hill. Unable to deny emperor's request Gramont suppressed his honour very well knowing that his forces might really aren't going to be needed in the battle at all.

His army was provided a part of land to set up their camp outside the Imperial capital for the time being until the news of total victory arrives to them. Gramont in a way was satisfied that the Tristain army was in reserve though his urge of honour was kept telling him it was wrong to stop a noble from attaining glory in battle. He knew Tristain army was depleted and nation's economy was barely standing after the Invasion of Albonia. But Tristain's ruler didn't want to anger the Pope and also the Germanians for not sending support to them. Gramont was quite confident that war would be over and they will be heading back home at the end of the week.

Little did he knew his speculations of the battle is going to be wrong and this war would consume the whole of Halkeginia. This war would also be a turning point in the history of their whole world.

END

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Phew Chapter 3 is over. I am taking sometime off from writing to complete my college assignments. I might not be updating for a week or two.

Stay tuned for the next chapter- " Battle of the three armies "


	5. 4 Battle of the 3 Armies

_Hello guys I am back with another chapter, I want to thank all the reviewers, people who put my story in Fav and follow list. Now I took some help from my English dept guys for my grammar errors, and also this is my biggest chapter I ever wrote and will try my best to keep it up as big as possible._

 _now to the story._

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 **CH- 3 Battle of the Three Armies**.

Special region, UN FOB, Endurance

( two weeks after the counterattack )

It took 6 days after the counterattack for the UN forces to complete the construction of the FOB. This base was a temporary set up for securing this side of the gate. Construction of Barracks for the troops, A motor pool for the maintenance of the vehicles, An armoury and a Command centre . The base still lacked in proper medical facilities except a medical tent constructed for the wounded and sick personnel of the base, severe cases had to be transported to the other side of the gate . Helicopters and planes were still to arrive at the base as the hangers were yet to be constructed. Barbwire fences surrounded the base's outer perimeter. Some 10 feet apart UN forces had constructed a string of trenches with machine gun emplacements and mortar pits. Tanks dug in hull down position. other APCs an IFVs also dug in for better protection. At the last line there were the SPGs , MRLSs Towed artillery pieces and Anti aircraft emplacements, these included AA guns and surface-to-air missiles. The defence strategy was divided into three lines of defence. The first line was the artillery barrage that will open fire when the enemy units comes into range. Second line consisted of Tanks, MGs emplacements and mortars. If the enemy crosses the first line it will meet the combined fire from heavy machine guns, mortars and tanks' fire. The last line consisted of infantry units. Anyone lucky enough to cross the first two lines will meet the relentless fire from the infantry units from the trenches. AA guns and SAM sites provided air cover from incoming enemy Air assets. The defences of the base were made to face massed frontal charges that were prevalent during the middle and renaissance ages.

If someone will have a chance to have an aerial view of the defences it will look like World war 1 trench system with modern elements added in it. If any how enemy breaks through the defences ( which is impossible for a medieval army ) A QRF will be ready to support and drive them back and plug the hole created by them. Daily recon was conducted by UAVs around 10 miles radius from the base for possible enemy army movement. Command knew the possibility of empire military preparing for a counterattack. US Military ScanEagles drones were used for recon operations.

( UNTF, FOB Endurance, Gate )

General Hazama and Lt. General O'Brien were waiting near the mouth of the gate for the arrival of Russian ground Forces that had been sent by the Russian Federation to strengthen the UN Forces on the special region side of the gate. Russian military had a presence on Endurance FOB as artillery and Logistics support. Recently Russian govt decided to increase its support for the UN expedition into special region. They were sending a mechanized regiment and a Tank Battalion.

Rumbling could be heard from inside the gate, Russian made T-90AM tanks came out of the gate followed by BTR-80s and a couple of BTR-90s. They were followed by KamAZ trucks and GAZ-2975 infantry mobility vehicles. From the rows of Russian vehicles coming into FOB Endurance a GAZ came out from the row and stopped right in front of Hazama and O'Brien. A man in Russian BDU with the rank of colonel came out from the vehicle.

"Colonel Romanov Orlovsky, Welcome to FOB Endurance " Hazama says to the colonel extending his hand thereby shaking Romanov's.

" good to have you here Colonel, Looking forward to work together "congratulation

" It's been a while general, ohh and congratulations for your promotion. Sorry for so being late to congratulate you. " Romanov replies.

" No problem colonel " O'Brien said.

" If you excuse me gentlemen I have to see to my men" Romanov states and goes back into his vehicle and follows the convoy towards its destination.

After Col. Romanov leaves Hazama asks " You know him "

" Yes, during the UN peacekeeping deployment in Somalia in 2018 he commanded the Russian contingent to support peace keeping operations after the outbreak of 2nd Somali civil war. I was there in command of the US forces there. " O'Brien replies.

He continues " Both the US and Russian Forces were asked to share the same base. It was to grow cooperation and better understanding among the two militaries after years of animosities against each other. I met him there, We shared the command of the whole base and also operations coembarks by our joint military operations. "

Both of them embark into their HMV waiting for them to take them back to the Command centre.

Drone Controller, Chief Warrant Officer Vance Sawyer POV.

Today was my turn for piloting the drone for recon. It had been two weeks I had arrived at FOB Endurance. At first when I crossed through the gate I was excited to know that I was not on Earth anymore but on another world. After our initial push through the gate. We decimated the enemy troops guarding their part of the gate. After clearing the areas of dead bodies we set up our base for further advance into enemy territory. With the construction of the FOB on full swing we were ordered to Recon the area for possible enemy troops movement.

I with my drone found few village level settlements in the 10 mile radius from the base, but no enemy troops movement were seen there or anywhere else in the area.

It became a routine for us to have a drone on patrol in the area 24 hours a day to have constant surveillance of our surrounding. Slowly the mission was becoming boring for us. We would recon the same area every day and find nothing except the villagers who were going on their daily chores. Only interesting thing happened with me was when Force Recon went for their own recon through the forest and I was ordered to keep an eye on them for the duration of their mission.

Today as usual my UAV was catapulted to the air from the launch platform and I took control of it and flew it towards my pre planned path. My UAV camera was scanning through the area when my eyes fell upon a large formation of enemy troops marching towards our base. They even had very large cannons with them. Another thing that amazed me were the Airships ,those ships looked like they were from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, man-o-war ships and those were flying and they had wings. I called my commanding officer and informed him what I had just found out. He himself looked into my drone control screen and was himself amazed by those ships.

I thought to myself " How the hell these ships were flying ?"

He ordered me to keep a constant surveillance of their movement and went on to inform the command about the impending attack.

After nearly 4 hours of trailing their movement my drone's battery was at its limit so I had to bring it back. Another drone operator took over my post with another drone to keep track of our enemy's movement. Today was not that boring patrol I had thought it would be.

( Command center )

The Command center was the first solid constructed building in the whole base. The construction of this solid structure was one of first steps in making FOB Endurance to be a more permanent base. The building was constructed as three storied building and enough space was being provided to shelter the whole Command center of the UNTF special region. On the First storey of the building there was the largest room which served as the briefing and war room for the UNTF command.

The room was filled with different commanders from the participating countries. A big white screen was there where the aerial photo of the direct vicinity of the hill and the adjoining area was projected. General Hazama was standing on a small stage installed in front of the screen. Beside him was Ltr General O'Brien who waited for the discussion to start.

" Gentlemen please pay attention" he said,

All discussion between different commanders stopped and they paid attention towards Hazama.

"This he said while pointing towards the photo is our base of operation in the special region. The surrounding geography is still unknown to us. If I imply we only know the geography of the area. We also have well fortified this base for any further attack. Funds directly from the UN is for making a more permanent base here. Still without any knowledge of the lay of the land except geography I propose sending recon units to meet the civilian population out there and en..." his sentence was cut short by a knock at the door.

" Come in " he said.

A US Marine entered the room, He saluted all the commanders in the room and said" Sir we have visual conformation from our drone units that a large enemy army is coming towards our base." he continues " Sir if you permit then I can provide latest images came from the Drone."

O'Brien said " Go on marine show us what you've got"

The Marine went towards the projector and inserted a pen drive into its USB port. A new image projects on the screen. It shows a large army marching in column formation. Next image shows very large cannons being towed by several horses. There were cavalry units and many more infantry columns. The last image was the most astonishing for the command. It was a Man-o-War battleship from the 16th and 17th centuries with small wings on either side of the hull and it was flying in the sky. The ship was also surrounded by Dragon riders forming some like a fighter screen for the ship. There were 10 total number of ships in their army. One ship from the fleet was larger than others.

There was a brief silence in the room. It was broken by Col. Raj Singh who said.

" How are those ships flying in the air. theydon't even have balloons or any large gas bags to aid them in the air."

" The only logical answer is that they are being powered by magic." Col. Romanov said.

" Have you seen any weapon emplacements on the ship" Gen. Hazama asked the marine.

" No sir our drone was unable to take a clear picture of those ships due to their dragon riders screen." The marine replied.

O'Brien says " Thank you for your timely information marine you can go now."

He salutes and goes outside the room.

" Those ships' designs and the available technology these imperials have I suggest they are all armed with cannons. The larger one must have to be their flagship and from the looks of the photo this ship also might be working as an aircraft carrier for their fleet. well just replace it with dragons. " Commander Sabatier said.

" Those other ships must be their escort vessels, Like our modern carrier battle group. With an aircraft carrier being the flagship and other escort and support vessels." Brigadier John smith said.

" Still they are useless against our Missiles, look it yourself they are all wooden ships. Even our AA guns can shred them to pieces. "Col. Minoso said.

" We still have to make preparations for their attack. " O'Brien said.

" Agreed " Romanov said.

" Col. Minoso I want your marines to join JSDF soldiers at the center of the trench. Col. Raj Singh men will be joined by Half of the Russian infantry to the left. Combined French, British and Canadian Infantry will hold to the right. British, American, Japanese and French tanks are dug in, in the second line and Combined artillery and AA support in the third." Lt Gen. O'Brien said.

He continued " Col. Romanov I want your other half of the Infantry and tanks join the QRF in the rear with the Indian, German, Canadian tanks and Italian infantry. You are in command of the QRF "

Col. Romanov replies " It will be done Lt General. "

" Maj. General Dietrich you have the command of the artillery forces in the 3rd Line. Brigadier Smith you have the command of our infantry in the trenches, Col. Raj Singh will be your second in command. Commandant Sabatier you have the command of our second line comprising of tanks and IFVs ." O'Brien said.

"Oui General " Sabatier said.

"General Hazama and I will have the overall command of all the UN ground forces in the special region. Are we all clear ? " O'Brien

" Sir yes sir " was the unanimous response

" Ok gentlemen we have a battle to fight may god be with us all" Hazama stated

All the generals and officers exited the room heading towards their designated posts for the preparation of the upcoming battle.

Halkeginia, Germanian Empire, Arnus hill. Allied army base camp.

Same day, 4:00 PM

( Command tent )

General Hanczel, General Phillips and other high ranking officers of the both Germanian army and the Gallian army were discussing their battle plan and strategy to attack the enemy forces on the hill.

" Sire we can lead a mass attack towards the hill and overwhelm them with our sheer numbers. Our scouts from the dragon knights have informed us that on the hill there must be more or less 20,000 enemy soldiers." A Noble officer said.

" They even do not have any air units to counter Gallian navy airships and our combined dragon knight corps. We can just move in shell their half finished fortress with our Siege cannons and send our infantry and cavalry supported by Gallian airships and dragon knights and destroy them. " Another noble officer said.

General Hanczel turned towards Gen. Phillip and asked.

" what do you suggest Gen. Phillip ?" he continued " Is this a sound strategy in attacking those out worlders with all of our forces at once. "

Gen Phillip replied " I recommend against sending all our forces at once we do not know anything of our enemy's capabilities. "

" hmmm you might be right we have to test their capabilities "Hanczel said.

One of his officers countered " Sire with all due respect I do not think they pose any serious threat, they are just 20,000 men we have an army of 100'000 infantry with large number of artillery pieces 2000 Dragon Knights, not counting auxiliary infantry consisting orcs and trolls. That in the Germanian army alone. We have the support of 10 Gallian airships and 300 dragon knights and 5000 infantry and 50 artillery pieces. Outworlders might be able to kill 2000 or more of our Infantry but our sheer number will overwhelm them. "

Hanczel thought for a while about which strategy to finalize for tomorrow's attack.

After decided mentally he spoke " Maj. general Nikolaus and Ehrhart I want both of you prepare your Legions for tomorrow's advance towards the hill to drive the enemy back towards their part of the gate. Your Legions will be followed by 6th and 8th Legion as your reinforcements. Gen. Phillip i want your ships to be prepared but do not attack until I say so. 4th Legion and Gallian army will be in the reserve. If needed they will march into battle to support your advance. ''

Hanczel continued " I want our dragon Knights on standby. When ordered they will fly into the battle to support our advance. "

Every other Officer including nodded in approval of this battle strategy.

" Your are all dismissed "Hanczel stated.

" You all go back to your tents and have rest today we all are going to have a long day tommorrow. " He added

Everyone except Hanczel left the tent. Gen. Phillip went back to his ship that was hovering just above the command tent. Hanczel prayed to Brimir for a victorious battle tomorrow and went back to his personal tent to rest for tonight and prepare for the long battle tommorrow.

( Next day )

General Hanczel came out of his tent donned in his armour. He saw his commanders were waiting for him outside his tent. They all were all around a small table with a map of the Arnus hill before the invaders took control of it. Gen. Phillip was also with them. When they all sawHanczel they greeted him. He joined them at the table and said.

" Good morning gentlemen, I see you all are eager for the upcoming battle. Are all preparations for the attack is complete ? "

Maj. general Nikolaus said " Yes my lord my legion is ready to advance and meet the enemy in battle. "

Maj. general Ehrhart followed " My legion is also ready my lord. Just give the word and we will begin our march to victory and destruction of our enemy. "

" Our legions are ready to support 5th and 11th legion advance to the hill. " one of the commanders from the support legion said.

Hanczel turned his face towards Phillip and said " Is Gallian army and navy ready for the battle ? "

Phillip replied " Yes general Hanczel when you give the word my ships will join the attack. "

" Very well Maj. general Nikolaus and Ehrhart go back to legions and begin the attack. "Hanczel said.

" As you command my lord " Both men said simultaneously and departed from the table towards their legions.

( 30 minutes later )

General Hanczel rode his towards the 6th Legion commander Adelind who was on the edge of the camp waiting for his troops to be fully prepared to support the forward legions when called for reinforcements.

Adelind was gazing towards the hill and was lost in his own thoughts. He didn't saw Hanczel coming and stopping besides him. He noticed Adelind was in his thoughts.

" What are you thinking Adelind ? "Hanczel asked

Adelind came back to his senses and replied

" Sire I didn't saw you coming my apologies for ignoring you. " He said in a apologetic tone.

" No problem Adelind, but you didn't answer my question. What were you thinking before I came here. "Hanczel said .

" Sire I was thinking about the enemy."Adelind answered.

He continued " I was thinking how were they going to fight such a large army we have brought to defeat them? If I was their commander I would have surrendered, for the well being of my men. A good general knows when to fight and when to surrender. I also think that fighting an enemy head- on without any knowledge of their true capabilities is also a bad decision. "

Hanczel raised his eyebrow and said " You do not like my battle plan Adelind. "

" No sire it is not like that it is just, I don't feel right fighting someone without any knowledge about them, but our enemy on the hill knows our full capability and how we fight our battles against them."Adelind said.

" I also do not like to fight an unknown enemy Adelind but what choice do we have. If we do not stop them here they might advance into our lands and pillage it to the ground. Adelind you must understand we attacked them first. We drew their blood first. They are here for revenge and if we don't counter them now and drive them back to their lands they might indulge ththemselves in what we have done to them. They are pointing towards the hill now weak. They haven't even set up their base permanently, which gives us the opportunity we need to strike them. "Hanczel explained

" You are right sir we need to strike them now without any further delay."Adelind said.

The sound of horns being played signalling the advance of the forward legions could be heard. 5th and 11th legion begin their march towards the hill.

" It has begun "Hanczel stated.

Maj. general Ehrhart POV.

After the signal of advance was given I ordered my legion to follow the 5th. We marched out of our camp and straight towards the hill. My legion like the others were full of confidence that we will definitely defeat and rout the enemy. The 11th was reformed after the Invasion of Albion, Where half of the legion perished . I was given the command of the legion after the reform. My Legion consisted of the veterans from the Albion campaign and also new recruits from the commoner class.

We marched on towards the hill where I saw a wooden white coloured sign board. It had unknown glyphs written on it and below those unknown glyphs I presume to be our enemy's language was the alphabets of germanus. It said

 _" Keep out in red This is a hazard zone, entry beyond this point is prohibited - UNTF Special region. "_

One of my officers commented " Ha so they are warning us not to enter their territory which is actually our land. They think they can scare us all with only by these words." He turned to one of the soldiers near him " Bring it down. "

As ordered that soldier with the help of some other men brought the board down.

We were nearly 6 leagues away from our enemy camp. In a hour or two our cannons will be in firing range and we will rain hell down upon their meagre fortifications and charge into their camp and slaughter them.

( UN Lines )

Col. Minoso looked through his binoculars and monitored the enemy advance. He looked down to his map and then looked back towards the enemy formations. One of the artillery spotters with him said.

" Sir they have crossed the 1st phase line. "

" Good, let more of them come in. "Minoso said.

Though having a longer range artillery units were instructed to fire inside the 6 miles or 10 km for Brits radius from the base. It was done to hide the true capabilities of our artillery against their armies. It was unnecessary what Minoso thought but the Japanese general insisted it. So less life would be lost and the enemy army would run away without a stomach to fight.

If it was up him he would have bombarded their camp when they first arrived and set up their base nearly 7 miles away from their lines.

After nearly 10 minutes his spotter said. " Sir they have more or less two division to corp strength inside the 1st phase line. "

Minoso gets his radio from the operator and starts speaking to it.

Overlord this is foxtrot center, Fish is in the barrel, I repeat fish is in the barrel

copy that foxtrot center bringing in the rain

Minoso looked back towards the unsuspecting advancing enemy and had a small grin on his face. He said to himself " These bastards will never know what hit them. "

( Back at Imperial lines )

Ehrhart was advancing with his legion. they were still far away from the enemy defences and he hoped still out of their cannons range of fire. Suddenly he heard a whistling sound. The sound grew louder and louder and then in front of his eyes whole of the 5th Legion was engulfed in flames. He was shocked and horrified to see this. Then out of sudden his own legion was ripped apart my massive explosions all around them. He shouted " my men " before being hit by a blast that threw him over from his horse.

He fell on the ground surrounded by the remains of his soldiers and shouted at the top of his voice " This is not a battle this is a bloody massacre" before being consumed by another blast.

(Allied army base camp)

General Hanczel saw everything from the edge of his camp. He along with Adelind and his guards rode towards the place where his two legions were marching towards the enemy camp. What he saw there shocked him. He saw the remains of 11th legion running past him. They were the lucky ones being rear of their formation they survived the blast. Others were not that fortunate. He saw the ground littered with dismembered bodies and body parts everywhere. The land was filled with large craters in the ground. Adelind threw up on the battlefield having never witnessed this kind of slaughter.

He said out loud " what happened, How this could happen no magical attack can reach this far. It is impossible for any mage may he might be a void mage like the Gallian king to hit this far."

Then it clicked inside his head " This must be power of those off worlders artillery. This must be their artillery, it is impossible to hit someone with magic this far." He said to himself.

He ordered one of his guards " Go back to the camp and call for a immediate meeting among the commanders. ". The guard spurred his horse and rode away towards the camp in full speed. "

He turned towards another soldier and commanded " Get some men down there and search for survivors. "

The soldier bowed his head and ordered his men to enter into the site of the slaughter to search for any survivors among the dead there.

Gen. Hanczel turned his horse and rode towards the camp closely followed by Adelind.

When he reached the command tent all the commanders from the Germanian army and Gallian army had already gathered and were waiting for him.

There were discussing and arguing among themselves how could they advance towards the camp. Gen. Phillip was sitting silently on his seat and was waiting for Hanczel to come.

Hanczel entered the tent and every one inside became silent. They all stood up as Hanczel goes and takes his place. He says " settle down gentle men settle down. "

All the commanders in the tent took their seats.

" Sire what could have caused that large explosion that destroyed our two legions. " One of the commanders said.

" It cannot be a magical attack. Our magical attacks do not have that kind of range. " another commander said.

Gen Phillip asked " General Hanczel are there were any survivors from the attack ?. "

Hanczel spoke " Some of the rear legionaries from the 11th Legion survived." He looks down and continues " 5th Legion is wiped out to the last man."

All the commanders including Phillip had a shocked look on their faces.

Hanczel continues "I was there at the edge of the camp when their attack struck our two legions. I am absolutely certain this attack was done by their artillery. "

" But sire it is impossible our largest cannons only range up to 2 leagues at maximum, that too by sacrificing cannons accuracy. "Adelind said.

" Their cannons must have greater range, they must have used magic to do that. "Hanczel said.

" What should we do next sire the morale in the camp is dropping rapidly after they saw and heard about the annihilation of two of our best and veteran legions even before they could see the enemy."Adelind said.

" We must attack to avenge them " One of the commanders said.

Many commanders nodded in approval.

" We must change our strategy to attack their camp." Phillip said.

" And we will "Hanczel replied.

( a couple of hours later )

"Maj .General Adelind your legion will advance from the center, Maj . general Inqbert you with your legion will advance from the left. Gallian army under the command of Gen. Phillip will advance from the right. I will be at the rear to reinforce any advance that asks for assistance. The Gallian ships will also join the battle, they will be providing support by shelling the enemy camp with their cannons from the sky . Whole of the Dragon knights will also provide air cover for our advance. Our three pronged attack will divide their artillery giving us the gap we need to exploit. Point to be noted they do not have the control of the air which gives us a chance to directly hit their main base camp with the help from those airships. "Hanczel explained

He continues

" I want all legions attack in loose column formation, Our soldiers will face less casualties against their cannons. Pikemen are to leave their pikes and to be armed with swords and shields, those pikes are useless in loose column. Cavalry will attack the front that is weakened enough by our infantry, ships and cannon fire and we will be having a decisive victory against our enemy. I will signal the beginning of the attack by the firing of two cannons consecutively "

[ A soldier enters the tent and bows ]

" My lord we have found no survivors from the 5th legion, Sire no remains of Nikolaus is found either."

Hanczel asks " Have you found anything of Ehrhart ? "

" Yes my lord " The soldier then brings a half roasted and broken helmet from his bag and places it on the table.

" Sire we were only able to find his helmet and nothing else "

Hanczel looks towards the helmet sadly and turns towards the officers in the tent.

" Gentlemen we will avenge our comrades and annihilate those outworlders from the face of imperial land, tomorrow we will begin our final attack and by the grace of Brimir we shall be victorious. "

" Long live the Germanian empire "Hanczel shouts

" Long live the Germanian empire " His officers followed suit, except the Gallian general who nodded in approval.

( Next day )

The whole army was preparing for their major assault on to the enemy camp on the top of Arnus hill. As planned before the army divided into three parts, Adelind's legion marched towards the center, Inqbert legion from the left and the Gallian contingent from the right under the command of Gen. Phillip second in command. The Gallian ships were also dived accordingly, The left and right flanks have three ships each to support them while the middle have four including Gen. Phillip's flag ship. The whole of dragon knight corps was spread out to support the whole army on all the fronts.

Gen. Hanczel was in the rear of the army with his legion to support any front that is able to break through the enemy defences.

He was confident in his strategy, he was convinced that his army and gen. Phillip ships would be able to use their advantage in numbers and air power to decimate the outworlder forces at the gate.

( 30 minutes later )

A messenger arrives and says " My lord all the fronts are ready to advance they are just waiting for your command. "

" Very good " He replies

He then signals the artillery officer to fire two cannons as a sign for the army to begin their attack.

Unknown to him a drone flew over him which kept a constant surveillance of his army from the day he arrived at the front.

( UN Lines, Command tent )

Gen. Hazama along with the whole of UN command staff were watching the live footage provided from the drone directly into the command tent. They saw the enemy divide their army into three parts and converge with towards the UN lines supported by countless dragons and ten enemy airships flying towards them.

" I thought they would run away after we decimated their first two division strength units yesterday. " Hazama said.

" They still have the numerical advantage and their air assets still available to them and by the looks of it they are going to use them against us today. " O'Brien said.

" Judging by the way they have divided their forces and their soldiers are marching in loose column formation they have learned from their mistakes they committed yesterday. There must be an attempt to divide our artillery support to our lines giving them a opening in our barrage to be exploit by their forces. They might be having a good commanding officer amongst them. " Brigadier John smith commented.

" They tactic might have worked against those cannons used during the 16th and 17th century, our guns can still decimate them without breaking a sweat. " Commandant Sabatier said.

" What should be our course of action today ? " Col Raj Singh asked

" We should let them come closer " Maj. Gen Dietrich

" Why should we ? " Col. Romanov asked

" I think may have a plan in his mind " Hazama said

" By the way I have " Dietrich said.

He continues " We should let the enemy troops think that their plans are working against us and let them come closer. We will minimize our artillery fire against their formations on the three flanks they are advancing from . Fire against their ships will be withheld until those ships but ourairships will shoot down any dragon that threaten our lines. When those airshipswill be right on top of their advancing troops, then we will open fire with our Surface to air missiles and destroy them. Those ships will directly fall on top of their troops which will cause panic in their ranks and then only we will open fire with all fire power we have against their ground forces in the battlefield. After their forces retreated back to their camps we will use the QRF to launch an immediate counterattack against their camp and destroy their army today."

" What if their ships attack us before their infantry is in position ? " Smith asks.

" Brigadier see their forces pointing towards the screen are maintaining their formation under those ships, they haven't moved an inch from their camp. If they had wanted their ships would have advanced against our position. But from the looks of it they are preparing for a combined arms assault against our defences. " Dietrich replied

" According to me I think this strategy will work" Romanov stated

" Even if this fails we will just blow their ships up out of the sky and begin our counterattack any way, we have advantage the advantage in fire power. " Col Raj Singh stated.

" Ok then we will go with this plan." O'Brien said.

" General they are advancing " Brigadier said after seeing the enemy army is beginning to advance towards the hill on the screen.

" No one except the artillery will open fire on them, Wait until the command of Dietrich and then obliterate them from the face of earth." O'Brien said in a stern voice.

" Yes Sir " was the unanimous answer.

" Dismissed " Hazama stated.

All the officers in the room saluted and went back to their designated posts.

( Imperial lines )

Adelind along with his legion marched towards the enemy camp, his legion was half way on to the hill when outworlders artillery began raining down on his soldiers. Unlike yesterday their cannons weren't that accurate though losses were inflicted upon his troops.

He thought that due to their 3 pronged attack their artillery had been divided on multiple fronts making their barrage ineffective though it was still destructive for his troops.

Adelind motivated his troops by shouting " Come on men don't stop we will reach the hill in no time' disregard the losses we've incurred, victory will be in our grasp, Keep moving do not stop"

His troops motivated by their commander pressed on and though the hill was still far away their morale was high, they believed the battle will be over today and they would return home to their families.

A large screeching sound came from the sky, Adelind looked up and saw their dragon Knights along with Gallia ships were heading straight towards enemy defences.

One of his soldier shouts " Go get them "

Another one yells " For Germania press on "

Enemy explosive cannon balls kept on falling on top of them but they kept up their advance towards the hill.

Suddenly a cannon ball fell near hill throwing him from his horse. He got back up and kept on moving towards the hill on foot. Adelind hoped other flanks would be advancing as his front was advancing.

( UN Lines )

Maj. Gen Dietrich was near the AA emplacements. He saw a large group of dragons heading towards the center, both left and right flanks were also reporting the arrival and advance of enemy air units those were advancing very fast towards the trenches.

He held AA guns fire for the final confirmation of the arrival of those airships. After a few moments he got what the info what from the troops on the trenches he needed. All the ships were right on top of their ground troops. He gave the order.

" Fire all AA batteries and bring down those dragons and ships."

His radio operator who stood beside him relayed the order to the AA detachment and in a few seconds all the AA guns [Type-87 SPAAG, 2K22 Tunguska] open fired at the oncoming dragon knights. Medium to short range SAMs fired their missiles against the dragons.

By the relentless fire from the AA batteries the Dragons stared falling from the sky like flies, not even one was able to breach the AA defences of the base. US Military provided four MIM-104 Patriot SAM systems which fired at the Airships outright destroying them. Some even broke into two pieces and started to plummet towards the ground. After the ships were hit whole of the UN defences opened up on the enemy which was in total disarray.

He saw the burning wreck of those ships fall on the enemy troops those were trying to advance or retreat back to their camp. They were crushed by their own ships which were meant to support them.

Tanks, APC,IFVs, SPGs and Infantry gunfire destroyed the remaining enemy troops those survived from being crushed by their ships. Their lines on all the fronts and they ran back to their camp. The ground was littered with bodies of men, orcs, trolls, dragons and horses, it was absolutely horrifying to see so many corpses. This battle was to go down in history as being one of the extremest one sided battles ever fought. But the battle was not over yet. Col. Romanovs Tanks and armoured vehicles moved out of the FOB to lead an immediate counterattack against the enemy base camp and conclude the battle today.

[ 10 minutes earlier, Imperial lines ]

(Gallia flagship)

Gen. Phillip was on his flagship ' De Grasse ', this ship was one of the largest and well armed ships Gallia had, the reason of sending this ship was to scare the enemy into submission by its might. He also hoped that with their numbers and also with his fleet of ships would be enough to finish the invaders off.

When he arrived at Arnus hill with his army, he thought the battle would be over in a day by the might of the Germanian legions alone. His ships and soldiers wouldn't be needed at all. But during the first day of the battle he was completely wrong, Nearly 40'000 men were slaughtered by those outworlders cannons. Not only did their artillery had long range but they also hit with unbelievable accuracy.

He could see everything from his ship as the battle unfolded. The three pronged attack strategy to divide the enemy artillery capabilities had worked. Their fire was divided in all the three fronts. But one thing was really odd about, as he saw that in enemy lines, there were no walls protecting their camp against an attack , instead there were a string of trenches surrounding their whole camp.

The combined wing of dragon knights began their attack run against the enemy camp to soften their defences for their infantry. The number of dragon knights flying towards the enemy was really a sight to behold. Captain of this ship comes to him and said

" My lord we will be in firing range in about 10 minutes, though sire I had to confess we still be stretching our cannons' capabilities and I reckon our shots will be inaccurate."

" It's ok captain but if we delay our fire at their camp we will lose lot more soldiers to their cannon fire, If we fire now we might be able to inflict some damage to their defences of their camp. Our main objective here is that until we reach our preferable firing range we will be firing cannon balls in to their camp." Phillip replied.

The captain saluted him and started giving commands to his sailors to prepare the cannons for firing. Suddenly Phillip saw strange lights that started to shoot down the dragon knights from the sky. He ran towards to the edge of his ship and saw this lights were coming directly from the enemy camps and the dragons knights were falling left and right. If it wasn't strange enough, rods flew from the enemy camps and hit the dragon knights with unbelievable accuracy. The greatest concentration of dragon squadrons ever assembled in the history of Halkeginia was being decimated by these outworlders and their unknown magic ability. Some of those strange lights even hit his ships damaging the sails and even inflicting casualties among his men but Phillip didn't move from the place he was standing. He saw one of those magical rods fly towards a ship on his right, The rod hit on the ship's portside and broke the ship into 2 halves. Another ship on his right was hit and it plunged towards the ground. To his absolute horror one of these magical weapons flew directly towards his ship.

He shouted " Brace for impact " as the rod hit the flagship of his small fleet. Due to the shockwave from the explosion he flew from the ship towards the ground to his demise.

(6th Imperial legion)

Adelind was shocked by the sight of the dragon knights being shot down in drove. The once mighty dragon corps of the empire were no match to the magic lights and magical rods fired upon them, which were extremely accurate and not even a single dragon knight survived that onslaught.

Some of his soldiers began to slowly halt their advance and witness the show of force by the outworlders. Some even tried to retreat only to be stopped by their officers. Before his own eyes the 6th Legion, one of the veteran legions from the invasion of Albion was beginning to panic.

Adelind quickly caught hold of a retreating standard bearer, he took the regimental flag from him and began to shout " Soldiers of the Germanian empire do not falter by the magic used by our enemy. We are the 6th Legion, the mighty 6th that took on 60'000 Albion soldiers and annihilated them, These mere outsiders and their puny magic is useless against the might of the empire, against the might of the emperor, and against the might of the Germanian nation, we will win or we die trying."

Hearing his speech the soldiers again began to reform their formation and advanced forward towards the outworlders lines.

Adelind lead his troops from the front holding the standard of the 6th himself, But like Brimir had put a curse on them one of the magical rods which by the looks of it was larger than the ones that hit the dragons before flew right into one of the Gallian ships flying over them. A Large explosion was heard as the rod hit the ship, The ship was on fire, As it started to descend upon them it broke in to two halves. This was one of the final nails in the coffins of the 6th legion discipline as the whole legion descend upon panic to get away from the falling ships. One by one all the ships were hit by those rods and they all began their fall upon them. Many poor souls were crushed under those ships that were meant to crush their enemy with might.

As if it wasn't enough the whole enemy line began to fire their artillery upon them along with those strange lights being fired upon them. Adelind was speechless, he couldn't move even a single muscle in fear, he stood there holding the standard as his men were being cut down to pieces. Suddenly he felt immense pain on his right shoulder and fell down hard on the ground, He saw his right hand being completely severed from his body. He could hear the sound like ' _pop pop pop'_ coming from the enemy lines it was like thousands of muskets were being fired upon them. As Adelind began to lose consciousness due to loss of blood he saw his mighty legion being shredded to bits by outworlders' magical muskets. As he slowly closed his eyes he cursed everyone of his commanders including the emperor for opening this damn gate before embracing eternal darkness.

( Empire Base camp )

Gen. Hanczel saw the failure and destruction of his grand strategy to surround and overwhelm the outworlders defences by use of the large army and navy at his disposal. His forces weren't even able to reach halfway across the battlefield when they are all massacred.

All the Gallian ships were lost during the battle without even being able to fire even one of their cannons, The dragon corps was wiped out to the last man along with their Gallian allies, none of the noble officers survived the attack and the commoner soldiers were running back towards the camp.

Hanczel wanted to stop them from deserting their posts but more pressing matters were at his hand, the enemy was gearing for a counterattack on his base now which he was informed from one of the stranglers those had decided to stand and fight along with his general rather than desert their positions.

Hanczel got down from his horse and called a meeting among the remaining officers in his army.

"How many did we lost during our assault on their camp ? " he asked.

"Sire" one of the Noble officer from his legion said "Adelind's legion is in shambles, his soldiers have already deserted the camp with the remaining soldiers from the Gallia soldiers. Inqbert's legions surviving soldiers have joined our ranks.

" What do we expect from our enemy when they launch their counterattack against us ? "Hanczel asked

" Sire we have little to no information about their infantry capabilities except this that their artillery is extremely accurate and they have a very different magical element in their weapons. Like their magical rods that struck down the whole of the Gallian ships sent on our aid. " One Noble officer answered.

Suddenly a soldier barges in on the meet by saying " I beg your apology my lord for barging into your meet but one of the survivors from the 8th Legion had witnessed the enemy forces forming outside of their defences."

" Bring him in I want to know what he saw there. "Hanczel commanded

" It will be done my Lord " the soldier answered before back to his comrade outside the tent waiting for the permission to enter. After permission was granted he entered into the room and saluted all the officers and General in the room. The soldier was more or less a 16 or 17 year boy who was in his half torn and dusty armour and uniform.

" Soldier what is the important matter you want to share with us?" One Noble asked.

" My lord I saw the enemy formation preparing for an attack upon our base, they are just gathering their forces just outside their wall. " He replied with little nervousness which was visible in his face.

" Tell us something that we do not know about. "Hanczel commented

" Sire I sa.. saw several Iron elephants with their large snouts just outside their camp, and by the looks of their construct they look quite menacing to my eye."

" Are you drunk soldier " a noble said in a sarcastic tone.

" No my lord it is... " before he finishes his sentence another soldier comes in

" Sire I have brought news from the scouts, enemy forces are advancing towards our camp "

" meetings over gentlemen now we prepare for battle. "Hanczel said as he puts on his helmet and moves out of the tent to command.

He quickly gets on his horse and rides to the front where his men were waiting for their general's arrival.

( UN Lines )

Col. Romanov was the commanding officer of the QRF detachment in the special region meant for plugging holes in the defence lines of the FOB . He is an experienced commander with combat experience during the UN intervention into second Somalian civil war fought between the warlords aligned with the remnants of ISIS after their defeat in Iraq against the government. Hailing from Volgograd he led his troops to total victory in the final battle of Mogadishu against the warlords. He is a proud but humble person who takes great pride in his nation's history and military. He personally selected the officers for deployment in the special region and earned the respect of his multinational subordinates very quickly.

Romanov was in his BMP-3K command IFV and relayed orders to his tankers and soldiers. The tanks immediately formed up into a column and left the base followed by IFVs and APCs towards the front.

With another command the tanks formed a line formation. They were divided into 3 lines. First were the tanks followed by IFVs and the APCs.

Romanov waited for his detachment to form up and then gave the command to advance and take the enemy camp.

( Outside the imperial base camp )

Hanczel looked in awe towards the oncoming armoured steel beasts in an unimaginable speed towards his camp. He quickly gave the command to his soldiers to form their battle formation and prepared for the oncoming assault. He had placed all the cannons he had in front of his infantry and the remainder of the cavalry were at the left.

" Sire they are in our firing range " Commander of the artillery wing said.

" Open fire " He commanded

All the cannons opened upon the oncoming iron behemoths rushing towards his lines. Due to their speed the cannon's inaccurate fire was ineffective. Some rounds that were lucky enough to land on them were deflected by its heavy armour much to the despair of the imperials. As those things closed in musketeers and archers fired upon them with no effect. After their first volley the beasts retaliated by destroying their cannons on the left flank also taking part of the cavalry with them.

With no choice left except to fight and die or surrender ,Hanczel drew his sword and ordered " CHARGEEE" as he spurred his horse and charged directly towards the oncoming enemy iron elephants. His men followed him with a war cry as they charged head on towards the enemy. As they neared them the iron beasts spat fire and death among his men, they ran over his soldiers and were unfazed by the magical attacks of the nobles. Hanczel even sent a series of lightning bolts on the iron elephants which kept moving on as if it was nothing. His cavalry also faced the same fate. Hanczel was himself cut down by machine gun fire from one of the tanks. Tanks cannon fire and machine gun fire virtually destroyed the imperial soldiers that charged them. Soldiers disembarked from the APCs and IFVs and joined the tanks in the final destruction of the Imperial army sent to destroy them.

The only damage the tanks took were scratches and marks that were done by swords, spears, cannons and magical attacks that impacted on them. It was a crushing defeat for the imperial forces as 93 % of soldiers sent for the counterattack were either captured, dead or missing, rest retreated or deserted the army during rout of the remaining soldiers.

( Next day )

The stench of the dead was becoming unbearable for Itami as he checked the bodies along with his Platoon after yesterday's battle. Though the work for disposing the bodies of the deceased combatants was moving in full swing the amount of dead was too much for the common soldiers to bear.

" How many did they send to fight us ? "Kurata asked

" According to the records recovered from the enemy camp nearly 105,000 soldiers not counting their dragons and other non-humans were sent to dislodge us from this hill "Itami answered. " We still do not have an exact number of dead during this battle. "

As both of them continued to have a little chat among themselves, Excavators and other heavy duty construction vehicles arrived at the FOB to finish its transformation to a more permanent base of operation. Some of the excavators and bulldozers were also reassigned to dig up mass graves to bury the bodies of the dead.

It was estimated that nearly 80 to 90 thousand died during the second battle for Arnus hill and up to 2000 were captured after the battle and were sent to the Prison Islands provided by Japan. None of the UN military personnel lost their lives during the battle.

Germania, Vindobona, Imperial Palace ( 5 days after the battle )

Gen. Gramont entered the throne room of the imperial palace followed by his second in command Captain Napoleon, today an important letter arrived from Tristain about the rise in the lawlessness and public discontent about the economy problems faced by the kingdom. The fragile economy of Tristain was barely holding after the bloody invasion of Albion and also the maintenance of troops on both Albion and Germania was too much for this small kingdom. It was reason why her Highness had asked Gramont that if the deployment of troops was not needed anymore then he is to return back to the kingdom at once.

Gramont saw that the deployment was going nowhere, his troops were confined to their camp outside the capital for nearly two whole weeks, with no chance of getting a chance to attain glory was also disheartening for the noble officers in the army, roughly 3 days ago Miss Kirche and Miss Tabitha arrived at the camp along with supplies sent directly from the Academy of magic to support the troops.

Today Gramont had decided to seek permission from the emperor to return back to his kingdom along with his army as he knew the news of victory will be arriving at any time from the hill.

Gramont along with Napoleon bowed before the emperor in show to respect to him.

" Rise General " Said emperor Albert " what brings you here today. "

" Your Majesty I am here to seek permission for the return of our troops back to our kingdom. "Gramont said.

" Well " placing his hand on his chin " You may return but not before the victory parade which I want you also to join when my victorious army returns from Arnus hill. Though your army had not fought in the battle but still Queen Henrietta has shown courage and responsibility as a true noble to send you and your army when the call to arms was sent to all the kingdoms despite being your kingdom economy was not in the position to support this campaign "

" Your Majes... "Gramont sentence was cut short when another person entered the room. He looked back to see the person was in Germanian army officers uniform but his uniform was in a very bad shape along with the man who had his head being bandaged and dried blood could still be seen in his uniform.

The same person comes beside Gramont and bows before the emperor and then he spoke.

" Your majesty I am captain Dezen of the 8th legion sent to Arnus hill to fight the outworlders and I have brought grave news from the front. "

" What is the news you have brought from the front captain ? " Emperor asked speculating the reply he is going to get from the man.

" You majesty " he said in a said tone " Our forces were defeated by the outworlders army . "

" What " Emperor said still shocked by the news " What happened to Gen. Hanczel and to the Gallian ships sent to support you, what happened to our dragon corps? "

" General Hanczel is dead your majesty, Gallian ships along with whole of the dragon knight corps is wiped out to the last man. "

" Emperor was shocked to his very core he had lost nearly 60 percent of the military strength of the empire along with half of the dragon knights his empire possessed. He sat down on his throne with his head faced down. Whole of the throne room had also gone silent by the news.

Gramont himself was shocked, the mighty legions of the empire were defeated by the outworlders, he now thought to himself that his deployment has been extended. he decided to send this news of defeat and extension of the deployment to her highness as quickly as possible after he reached his camp.

His confidence about the quick victory was shattered after this grave news. Gramont now knew that his expected short war had just escalated into a large scale conflict.

AFTER ACTION REPORT :

strength - 10,000 + troops

losses - none

Imperial strength - 100,000 infantry, cavalry, and dragon knights [ auxiliary and non- humans not included ]

losses - 80,000 + infantry, cavalry and dragon knights[ wiped out]

army strength - 5000 infantry, 10 airships and 300 dragon knights.

losses - 4500 infantry, all airships, whole dragon knight corp.

note- Nearly 2000 imperial soldiers returned back to the capital with others decided to desert or even turn to banditry. It was also due to the death of most of the high command authority during the battle. This attack also speed up the construction for a more permanent base of operation for the UNTF.

END

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CODEX

Imperial army formation.

Legion- 20,000 men including cavalry and artillery ( auxiliary orcs and trolls not included )

under command of a Maj. General.

Army - 2 legions combined form a army, sometimes even 3 Legions are used but it is rare, Commanded by a General.

* * *

Next chapter might take a while to be published as you all can see I have decided to make bigger chapters so more time is needed for writing and also to think what to put in the next chapter so that it will fit into _Foz_ world setting. If any of you have any ideas for the next chapter just put it in the review section or PM me I will see to it.

until next time

Peacekeeper out

stay tuned for next chapter Ch- Imperial decree and third Recon


	6. 5 Imperial Decree and Third Recon

_Guys peacekeeper is back again with another chapter, this time it is much more longer than the last one I presume so. Well, my beta reader or so you can say a good friend from Eng dept was unable to rectify my grammatical mistakes in this chapter. Reason well my midterms are starting next week along with his so bear with me for a while. Also, I won't be posting for a while for my exams, do not I repeat do not presume the story is dead if I had not posted for a while in near future.( It is a month long exam, with lots of breaks in between )._

 _Special thanks to Mr. another guest for your Idea and also to my other reviewers._

 _Note: Many readers from the story had suggested me to have a Family member from Saito's family in the special Region. Well, he is here just you have to spot him among the members of the UN military._

* * *

 **CH- 5 The Imperial decree & Third Recon.**

Germania, Vindobona, Imperial Palace ( next day )

Imperial War Room.

Emperor Albert seated on his throne surrounded by his most trusted advisors and Generals including Gen. Gotfried of the capital defense army and Gen. Gramont of the Tristanian contingent. His generals and advisors argued among themselves about what the next course of action would halt the outworlders advance deeper into Germanian territory while emperor sat on his throne listening to their arguments while he rubbed his forehead still thinking about the loss his army faced during the battle of Alnus hill.

" How many regular soldiers do we have left in the eastern provinces. ? " emperor asked.

" You Majesty " Gotfried said " all the remaining regular infantry we have left are garrison units in different forts and provincial capitals all over the east, none of them has any offensive capabilities right now, we also have a large number of militia units but they all lack in proper equipment and training. In short, your majesty the large bulk of troops prepared for any offensive actions against the outworlders are stationed in the Imperial capital right now, but sending them to battle will also leave the capital-wide open for an attack. "

Emperor looks down at the table with the map of the eastern part of the empire, after thinking for some time he spoke " General what about the Rose order of knights they are a bunch of skilled warriors we have in the capital, can't we send them. "

" Sire I don't recommend on sending them to battle, they might be skilled but they have no real combat experience. " Gotfried replied.

" What about sending the Imperial Fists? " Another noble asked.

" Absolutely not they are the best of the best empire can have and we need them here in the capital for its defence if the outworlders make their move." Gen. Gotfried replied.

" What we need now is the further analysis on our enemies true capabilities, we cannot afford another Arnus hill right now. We must send some of our units on reconnaissance mission if we want to know whom and what we truly are facing. " another noble said.

Emperor turns towards Gramont " General as you have seen our dilemma right now unable to muster sufficient forces to conduct recon operations due to our severe losses, I ask you to deploy your contingent on a recon expedition in and around the Formar territory. "

Gramont replies " as you command your majesty " with signs of pride clearly visible on his face, for at last Tristainian contingent being able to properly contribute to this ongoing conflict.

" General I heard that yesterday you have received a letter directly from her highness ordering you to return back to Tristain with your army. " Gotfried said looking directly into the eyes of Gramont.

" General as much as Germania is in danger right now so is the Kingdom of Tristain. The border of Tristain is directed towards the south of the Arnus hill, It will take a week and a half to reach the border and cross into Tristain. We also do not abandon our allies that helped in fighting against the Reconquista during our combined invasion of Albion. Another thing I want to point out that Her Highness didn't order but asked me if the situation in Germanian is stabilized than only I am to return back to Tristain. After the defeat you faced at Arnus hill I am now convinced we are needed here the most rather than back in Tristain. " Gramont explained.

" But General your Economy is falling with your extension of your deployment it might lead to the fall our your kingdom is it not general," an advisor said in a sarcastic one.

" I have full knowledge about that sir, but we can still manage of our own some time more, but if Germania falls to those invaders there is no one left to stop them from spreading all over Halkeginia, and we cannot ignore that fact right now." Gramont countered.

" You don't have to care about your armies rations and supplies anymore General Gramont," Emperor said with a smile on his face. " I have decided to fund your campaign from now on.

This revelation stunned Gramont and also the Germanian generals, advisor s and nobles present in the room.

" Your Highness I am very grateful for your kindness and help you have shown to us. " Gramont replied with his own smile.

" Don't be, you have already shown your determination as a true noble and a trustworthy ally by standing beside us in time of our peril. "

" Another thing General, I am giving you the command of Rose order of Knights," Emperor said.

Gramont looked towards the emperor, little stunned by the sudden addition of Imperial troops not just commoner infantry but an elite knight order in his ranks.

He tried to counter " Your majesty I do not think I will be needing them, I have enough men for this operation."

Gramont didn't want to command Imperial forces at all, by the years of experience in the military he knew the kind of pride these Germanians take in their military might, even their commoner soldiers or Legionaries were better trained and well equipped than any other kingdom all over Halkeginia, , Like their Nobles who tend to look down upon him and his noble officers, their commoner soldiers also look down upon his soldiers hailing and would mock them for being a small and significant kingdom which needed their aid during their counterattack against Albion.

During the invasion of Albion when the Tristain forces would cower in fear of the charging Albion nobles, the Germanian soldiers would charge headlong against anything thrown at them, may it be a group of Magical knights or a group of triangle mages or even an army outnumbering them 3 to 1. They fought with the strong will and determination for their empire that even the captain of the Griffon knights would be put to shame. Unlike his army which was completed depended on nobles to command them, The Imperials relied upon both nobles and their commoner officers, they also respected each other which made their military more formidable and also more flexible unlike his contingent where nobles would always disregard the like of a commoner soldier in order to attain glory in battle.

If a commoner soldier of their empire had that much pride in him, a knight would become a throne in his operation rather than being helpful, as being regarded as inferior soldiers there is a possibility they might even disregard his orders or any orders from his command staff during the heat of the battle. In simple words, he was not comfortable with the addition of Imperial troops in his ranks.

" General I am not asking but ordering you to accept the command of the Imperial knight order." He continued " You have more or less 500 men in total from them only 50 are mages, with this recent addition your numbers would grow up to 800 in total with also an addition of nearly 150 noble knights in your ranks. "

" As you wish your majesty," Gramont answered in a defeated tone.

" Well then as everything is settled I would conclude the meeting for tonight."

Emperor said.

As advisors and generals started to leave the room, " Mr Marcus and Gen. Gotfried please would you stay behind for a little longer I have some important matters to discuss with you right now.

After a while, only Emperor Albert, Prime advisor Marcus and Gen. Gotfried were left in the room.

" What you want to discuss with us, your majesty? " Marcus asked.

" Marcus and Gotfried as you know after the defeat of Hanczel's army along with our Gallian allies the imperial military presence in the Formar county is only limited to the city of Italica and that too those troops are not regular imperial Legionaries but instead Italica's city guards and militia. The formar county is more or less lost to the outworlders army."

as the emperor continued he pointed at the formar territory in the map present at the table.

" And both of you also know Italica city is situated on directly upon one of the most important highways leading to western provinces and also that highway has a direct route to both the capital and other kingdoms borders. "

As he finished Gotfried asked " Your majesty we know about that, What are you want to imply about this territory? "

" Scorched earth " emperor replied.

Both Marcus and Gotfried were having shocked expression on their faces as he continued

" We have to destroy anything and everything that the enemy might use to advance more towards the city of Italica and the highway. Burn all the villages and farmlands leading to the city, poison all the wells along the way, leave nothing standing that can be used by those invaders against us. "

" But my lord, What about the revenue, and also of the commoner population in the area, the month of harvest of their crops is coming near, they would likely to oppose the burning of their crops and their villages. " Marcus asked

" Other Lords and nobles of the court are also going to oppose the scorch earth policy. It might be due to the reason this territory of being an influential noble Count Colt who died during the initial thrust by the outworlders. " Gotfried stated.

" I know about that General, I know they would likely surrender to the outworlders rather than fight for the empire. They have no loyalty to the crown or to the state but only to themselves. The massive loss faced by the regular army also has forced my hand, I am totally dependent on the provincial units provided by them those are likely to be more loyal to their masters rather than to me. " Emperor stated losing his cool.

" Your Majesty we would give our lives for you and the empire. " Gotfried declared as Marcus nodded as he supported gotfried's declaration.

" I know I would be able to trust both of you as you are the most loyal members of the court. " Emperor said with a broad smile on his face.

" I want you Gotfried to take the command of the Imperial Fists as soon as you leave the palace and give them the orders for the initiation of the scorch earth tactic in the Formar territory as soon as possible. I want everything burned to the ground. "

" Yes, your majesty " Gotfried replied.

" What about the commoners your majesty, and what about the local lord? " Marcus asked.

" The territory is ruled by the daughter of the late count right now who is still a minor and most probably a weak ruler, About the commoners well leave no witnesses, the news of the destruction is to kept in secrecy as long as possible. When the news breaks I will handle it and until then it will be too late for those fools to interfere in my plans. " Emperor replied.

" Here take this letter directly to the commander of the Fists extending the letter with the seal of the empire to general Gotfried and he will know what to do next."

" When the Tactic will be successful we will be having an enemy low on supplies and forced to bring their own supplies from their land tiring their horses and slowing them down long enough until the Imperial Legions are back in full strength."

Both the men saluted their emperor and turn to leave the room as they head out to fulfil their emperor's orders and bring the enemies of the Great Germanian empire to its knees.

( 1 hour later )

Germania, Fort Imperial Glory (2 leagues from Vindobona)

After the secret meets with his Majesty Gotfried along with his guard escort rode directly to the Imperial fists primary base of operation just 2 leagues away from the capital, The reason the base being away from the capital was to keep the prying eyes of the commoners and spies. The road leading to the base had three heavily guarded check posts, to cross these posts the person had to have the order directly signed by the emperor or from the war minister, no one even Gotfried himself was allowed inside the base though being a General in the army without proper documentation. As he reached near the fort he was welcomed by a large high exterior wall with sentries patrolling on them. As he got closer to the gate of the base a Legionary armed with a musket saluted him and asked.

" My lord would you be kind enough to show some documentation, please "

Gotfried brought out the papers he had been using to cross the previous checkpoints and presented it to the guard on duty at the gate.

" You are cleared to pass my lord " Directing one of his fellow sentries to open the gate " But you are only allowed to bring only two of your guards inside the fort and you will be escorted by one of my men to the main command building "

Gotfried nodded and signalled two of his men to follow him.

As they entered through the gate, they came across a large open area on the right side of the fort where a row of dragons were sitting there and were being tended well by their riders who stood beside them, in the far end there were structures those were being used to house those dragons.

As the passed through that area one of the General's guard asked curiously

" My Lord why do the Fists got bigger dragons than our own Dragon knights?"

" Is this your first time here Captain Ludeck? " Gotfried asked.

he nodded.

Gotfried explained "Well Unlike our own troops numbering in thousands, the fists number in hundreds, This is due to the reason of their rigorous training procedure they have to endure for 3 months, many trainees fail during the training only leaving the strongest amongst them. They are the best of the empire's elite fighting force, not some conscript or militiamen. This is the reason why they get to use all the best equipment the army can offer. Not to forget these men fall directly under the control of the Emperor and the War minister respectively." He continued. " Well about the dragons, well they are a very rare breed of dragons only found in the western provinces of the empire. Their scales are sturdier than our regular dragons and are also quite hard to keep them in control."

As they crossed through the barracks and parade ground, they saw hundreds of men in black armour and helmets covering all over their head except the eye holes were lined up on the parade ground. Many were armed with muskets strapped on their backs and pistols holstered on their waists, they were also armed with swords and different kinds of melee weapons preferred by individual soldiers.

" Does the Fists recruit commoners into their ranks? "

" No Captain, They are all noblemen, after the invention of muskets which give the commoners some edge against us nobles, the previous commander of this regiment decided to train them in the art of firearms and magic. They can and will use both magical attacks along with their firearms to gain an edge during a battle. "

" My lord, how can I be able to join the Imperial fists ?" Ludeck asked.

Gotfried sighed and replied " Well captain you need to have 5 years of combat experience before even being eligible to apply and also you have to be a Triangle mage in order to join them. Last but not the least you have to pledge a oath to promise not to release any confidential information related to the security of the empire and this unit and do not forget the intense training you have to endure before you become an Imperial fist you must have extraordinary skill to pass them also you have to renounce the noble of fighting in a war these people will fight to win not to gain honour and glory in battle . They recruit in every two years amongst the ranks of the imperial army."

With this revelation baffled Ludeck who believed in the noble way of fighting in duels against any fellow noble except the commoners of course.

As they followed their escort they came across a large building guarded by two Fists operatives. Their escorted said.

" My lord we have reached our destination I will be waiting for you here, you can take your guards with you into the command building."

With that Gotfried entered the building along with his men, the commanding officer's room was on the second floor they passed through a number of sentries of the building, Ludeck while following his general the death glares he was receiving from those sentries. It sends chills down his spine. As they neared the room Ludeck again asked his general.

" Why are those sentries we passed through were looking at us like we were here to kill someone? "

Gotfried warned " Do not do anything stupid here Captain and do not look in to their eyes as well, Imperial fists are trained to only follow orders and be loyal to their emperor only, They don't like anyone except any other of their own men to command them, they also do not trust anyone from the Imperial legion due to the fact that Imperial legion bases can be infiltrated by spies and assassins and now we might be those men in another man's attire impersonating them. They will kill us if they sense any doubt of our ranks. "

As they reached the door leading to Imperial fists commanding officer's office Gotfried ordered his men to stay outside and do not cause any trouble. He knocked the door and waited for a reply.

" Come in "

Gotfried opened the door and entered the room he was greeted by a man in mid-forties seated in his chair beside a highly decorated table. The top of the table was scattered with maps and other documents for the military operation and training results of this unit. As he saw Gotfried entering his room he stood up from his chair and said warmly.

" Ahh, General Gotfried good to see you here, though I was expecting you, after the recent battle report coming from the Alnus Hill campaign I knew It was not long enough until his Majesty orders us to be deployed to fight outWorlder barbarians at the gate."

Gotfried replied " Good to see you too Colonel Berengar I have brought Orders from his Imperial majesty. "

Berengar scoffed " Ohh you can just have sent a messenger with the letter why to come yourself to present this, I presume it is of utter importance for his majesty to send one of their premium generals here to bring his orders to us. "

" It is of great importance Colonel extending the letter he had to Berengar please read it. "

While breaking the seal to open the letter Berengar asked " Do you have any idea what is the content of this letter? "

" I have no idea " Gotfried lied, he knew what the emperor had ordered but he wanted to see the reaction on Berengar face when he would know that the command of Imperial fist unit has been transferred to him and now Berengar is going to be his second in command. These elite soldiers of the empire see themselves superior to any other fighting force in Halkeginia, even the Imperial Legion is looked down upon. During the Invasion of Albion, they were given their own separate command and their troops were more or less independent from the normal chain of command of the legions as the answered directly to their commander who in turned answered directly either to the emperor or the war minister. So being under the command of a normal Imperial army general was going to be hard for the fists.

As Berengar open the letter he began to read it loud so that Gotfried would even know what his Majesty has ordered them to do.

 _By the order of your Emperor Albert III to the present commander of the Imperial Fists, to hand over the command of his unit to General Gotfried of the Imperial capital defence army, Until further orders you will follow his orders as they were of mine._

 _Signed by Albert III_

 _Seal of Germanian empire_

In an instant, Berengar stood in attention clicked his boots and presented a salute to his new commander General Gotfried.

" My Lord What are your orders? "

" Mobilize one of your most ruthless and elite units, you are to advance to the Formar territory immediately. After you arrive at your destination Gotfried reveals a map from his pocket and spread it on the table Destroy all the rural settlements in the area, poison the wells, kill their cattle, leave nothing standing that can be used by those outworlder invaders. "

" My lord, are you ordering us to us Scorched earth in the Formar territory? " Berengar asked while being stunned by the order.

" Yes Col. we are commencing the scorched earth in Formar County, Just leave the provincial capital out of your trail of destruction, any means are to be used and leave no witnesses behind, we do not want some mere peasants spreading the word of the Scorch earth tactic we have resorted to use and plummet the moral of the people and army more after our crushing defeat. Is that clear Berengar. " Gotfried said in a sternly.

" Yes my lord, the serpent company, the most ruthless company in the whole Imperial fist regiment will be deployed tomorrow. "

" Very well Col. You may go "

Berengar saluted and moved out of his former office now being occupied by Gotfried. He directly heads towards to meet the company commander of the Serpent company for the preparation of their deployment.

( Next Day )

" Men of the Imperial fist regiment, you are the best of the best the empire could offer. Your emperor has ordered you to pillage our own land in order to stop those barbarians from advancing further into our domain and we will follow that order even if our lives and honour at stake. Sacrifices have to be made for the goodwill of the empire and its citizens. Some have to die so that others may live. We are giving those people who would be killed by your swords and spears to be remembered as martyrs of whole Germania. "

Gotfried gave his speech while he stood in front of the Serpent company ready to head out towards the Formar County. From the expression and posture of those men, He knew they were not interested at all in his speech at all, unlike a common soldier they do not need any motivation to complete their task, That too taking orders from an Army General rather than their own commander who is now his second in command or the emperor himself, made them rather being annoyed by his presence.

As he completed he speech, Berengar yelled.

" Long Live the Emperor"Long live the Germanian Empire "

" Long Live the Emperor and the Empire " His men followed suit.

" Mount up " Their commander ordered.

Soldiers mounted their dragons and took off from their base towards the Formar territory.

As Gotfried had heard these dragons were more durable and flew faster than their counterparts in the army, Though their size was larger they were far agiler than a normal Dragon. With that These Soldiers were armed with the latest set of enchanted armour developed by Germanian Mage researchers would be able to withstand the fire from a musket until the shield is broken. They were quite expensive and also were kept as a state secret from other Kingdoms even from their ally Gallia and Romalia. This armour was only provided to the Fists. Even he had to swear an oath in the name of the Emperor and Brimir to keep this secret.

Estimated by Col. Berengar they would be Italica within a week or so.

After the ceremony, Gotfried returned back to the capital as his work was done here giving the temporary command of the Imperial fists back to Berengar.

Germania, outskirts of Vindobona, Tristania Army camp. ( Same day )

General Gramont stood along with his son and Saito, They had just received the news of the soon arrival of Rose Knight order into their camp for the combined operation in Formar province.

" So what do we know about this knight order? " Saito asked curiously.

" Well, Saito they are a bunch of beautiful Noblewomen and some men bunched together into forming a Knight order. " Guiche said.

" I am looking forward to meeting them personally, and by luck might have some of them fall for me eventually, " He thought to himself.

" Hey Guiche snap out of your thoughts of wooing someone from that order, we are here to fight a war, not to forget if I find you doing that I will tell Louise just send a letter to Montmorency about your plans for two-timing again. " Saito said.

" How do yo..."Saito cut him off

" Well from the looks of your eyes anyone can know what are you thinking right now especially me as I know how you like to look cool in front of girls. " Saito said in mild amusement.

Guiche gulped and replied, " ok ok you win I lose I will try to control myself, please don't do anything like that or Montmorency will leave me forever."

Saito nodded and replied " Well Guiche stay faithful to whom you love do not try to deceive them in their back. If you come to know Montmorency is cheating you how will you feel right now."

Guiche lowered his head and said, " You are absolutely right Saito, I will try my best to change myself and be a faithful to her."

" By the way, I haven't seen Louise today where is she ?"

Saito replied " She is still in her tent sleeping right now.

" Why don't you go and wake her up ?" Guiche said.

" Well," Saito said while rubbing back of his head " We had a fight last night as I denied her to sleep with me last night. You know how the beds we are provided here small in comparison to we have in the academy so as we might be moving out in our scouting mission today I don't want to have an uncomfortable sleep last night." He continued " As a matter of fact she was furious at me and promised me to blow me up with her explosion magic. "

As both of them continued to chat Gramont decided to ignore them as they were still very young to understand the severity of the situation they are along with the whole of Halkegenia right now.

One of the soldiers comes running and salutes Gramont before saying. " My lord the Germanian knights are here they are asking permission to enter our camp."

" Let them in " Ordered Gramont.

" As you wish my lord " the soldier salutes Gramont again before returning back to his post at the gate.

A few moments later A group of young women in ornamental armour entered through the gates of the camp and rode directly towards the command tent where Gramont was waiting for them.

As they neared the command tent Gramont saw the young women might be bit older than Guiche in red hair leading the group, To his surprise, there were only 10 knights in total, but according to the report, he got their numbers should be 300 not ten knights in white armour before him.

Their commander saluted Gramont which he returned and introduced herself to him.

" Greetings General Gramont, I am Pina De Teree Present captain of the Rose-Knight of order." and went on introducing the men and women in her group.

" Pleased to meet you, Captain Pina, please come in we have so much to discuss right now." Gramont then ordered some of his men to go and fetch Tabitha, Kirche and Louise from their encampments right now.

After a while when the whole group gathered in the camp the meeting began.

" As per the orders from his majesty, the Rose- Order of knights is now temporarily attached to the Tristain contingent. From now on we will be working together until the invaders are dislodged from the Imperial lands. We are also receiving food and other resources from the empire so the logistic problem we were facing from bringing supplies from Tristain is finally rectified." Gramont said.

Turning towards Pina he asked " Captain would you care to explain why have you bought just ten men with you, I have heard you have nearly 300 knights in your order. "

" Sire according to the orders from his majesty we are going for a scouting mission not on going to battle our enemies head on. " Pina replied.

" Very well then when should you think we would begin our mission. " Guiche asked as his eyes were fixed upon Pina on the whole time.

" I propose we should begin our mission right away, the more we delay here discussing what to do next those invaders would be pillaging Imperial villages and cities right now," Pina said sternly

" Captain Pina you would be joined by Captain Napoleon and his men during this mission. I want you to prepare your supplies you would be taking with you during the mission and head out to Formar County as quickly as possible." Gramont ordered.

Pina saluted him and exits the tent and heads out to prepare for her journey to their destination Formar County.

" Napoleon I want you to leave your Griffon in the camp and take a detachment of regular cavalry with you. " Gramont said.

" Yes my lord " Napoleon replied

" Ok Everyone else I want you all to prepare for the shifting of the camp from here to the outskirts of Format County. We will begin our preparation for Napoleon and the scouting party are away from the camp. "

Turning towards Kirche " Miss Kirche which is a good place you see in this map would be a good place to set up our camp outside the Formar County. "

Kirche reviews the map for a while and says " Here we can set up our camp here beside the river Tire which marks the natural border between Formar County and other provinces. From here we have a direct route towards the regional capital Italica most probably three days away from here. "

" Thank you Miss Kirche, It is settled then we will move out after Napoleon's group is out, and Napoleon let the Germanian knight be a command as they know the lay of the land, now go prepare your men for the operation."

With that Napoleon salutes and exits the tent, followed by other members of the Tristain command staff, but as Saito was about to leave Lousie caught hold of him and said " we have something to discuss Saito. " and pulls him back into the tent.

While being forcefully pulled back into the tent Guiche saw Saito's face has gone pale by seeing the evil grin Louise had on her face.

Guiche was near his tent when he heard a loud explosion going up. Knowing what had happened he decided to ignore it along with other nobles and soldiers who have become accustomed to the out busts of Louise had on Saito.

( 3 hours later )

The Combined scouting group comprised of Rose order knights and Tristain Cavalry unit commanded by Napoleon exited their camp and rode towards the Formar county. They would be reaching their destination within 2 weeks. From the recent reports from Italica, the enemy is still confined to the Alnus hill fortifying their position. They would be closely followed by the army until the border of the county where they would set up their camp. While he along with Rose order knights would scout the region. Pina's rest of the order will also be joining the Tristain contingent.

UNTF Fort Endurance, Special region, August 19, 2019

Command Center, General Hazama's Office.

Hazama stood beside the window of his office grazing upon now fully operational base in the special region. It has been three and a half month since the battle of Ginza, four weeks since the counter-attack conducted by the Germanian empire was repelled. After the attack, the construction was sped up and within a week the base had a fully operational airfield followed by completion of the construction of barracks and a motor pool for the vehicles. The base was surrounded by a high exterior concert wall with AA guns, SAM sites and machine gun nests deployed at key points of the wall. The base was constructed as Bastion or star fort which was prevalent during the age of Gunpowder in mid 15th century. This design was proposed by the Italians as this type of forts are very good in shrugging off cannonballs fired at them. ( though Hazama doubted they would ever going face another attack after enemy forces faced devastating losses ), Current drone surveillance reveals the area dotted with minor village level settlements and no military presence not even patrols in the area, like the whole region had been demilitarised after the previous battle. It is like either the Germanian army had pulled out of the region or had resorted to guerrilla warfare, which is highly unlikely due to the honour system prevalent among the officer rank of the empire's military. This information of fighting for personal honour and glory was found out after a brief interrogation of an imperial officer captured after the battle of Endurance ( Battle of Alnus by locals ). The Nobility like the ones Earth saw from the ancient times to the end of the 1900s who most of the time will fight head-on rather than fight in dishonourable way i.e how modern wars are being fought rather than head-on clashes between major powers but proxy wars, insurgency, cyber warfare is being used.

Hazama returns back to his seat leans back and opens the file provided to him by the American CIA after interrogating a high ranking officer captured during the battle of Ginza. the file contained all the intel on the special region and the enemies they are facing right now.

Hazama open up the file

 _'Halkeginia' is the name of the world given by its inhabitants._

 _This World is divided into four major kingdoms before there were five but the fifth was invaded and was split between the allied nations._

" Heh like the allies did to Germany after second world war. " He thought.

 _1) The Empire of Germania_

 _It is the largest Kingdom in Halkeginia and also regarded as the strongest in military strength. Also, It is the most populous nation in this world. Also consists the highest population of non-human species like orcs, trolls known to be used as the auxiliary in their armed forces._

 _Form of Government: monarchy_

 _Head of the state: Emperor Albert III_

 _Capital: Vindobona, also known as Imperial capital_

 _Language: Germanian [ Slightly equivalent to old Version of German language]_

 _Status: At war_

 _Total Military strength: Unknown Probably in thousands_

 _2) The Kingdom of Gallia_

 _It is the second largest country and also the second largest population in Halkeginia. This nation is also the primary reason for the opening of the gate in the Ginza district, Tokyo, Japan. For this reason considered to be the hostile nation. Also, fields the largest navy i.e Flying warships in this world._

 _Form of Government: Monarchy_

 _Head of the state: Joseph de Gallia_

 _Capital: Lutece_

 _Location: Unknown_

 _Language: Gallian or French_

 _Status: At war Due to being the perpetrators for opening the Gate for the empire to invade. Also, the fleet of ships presents during the battle of Endurance were sent by them._

 _Total military strength: Unknown probably in thousands with a strong fleet of Airships._

 _3 ) The Kingdom of Tristain_

 _It is a small kingdom with a weak military and a small permanent force. This nation relies upon marriage and alliances with other major powers. Though being militarily inept it has recently withstood an invasion and counter-attacked with the help of her allies._

 _Form of Government: Monarchy_

 _Head of the state: Queen Henrietta de Tristain_

 _Capital: Tristania_

 _Location: unknown_

 _Language: French ( medieval dialect )_

 _Status: Possibly hostile due to alliance with Gallia and Germania_

 _Total Military strength: Unknown probably very weak._

 _4) The Kingdom of Albion_

 _This Kingdom is a floating island in the middle of the ocean and was in a political strife a few months ago. The Civil war was between the Royalists and the Reconquista a popular uprising against the Albion royal family. The royalists were defeated and the Reconquista after taking the control of whole Albion then turned its attention towards its neighbour Tristain. The nation was counter-invaded by the alliance of Germania, Gallia and Tristain and is now presently under the military occupation of the three nations._

 _Form_ _of Government: Puppet state, divided among the alliance._

 _Head of the state: Unknown_

 _Capital: Londinium_

 _Language: Albionish or English._

 _Status: Possible location for Partisan movement, These cells if active can be provided with aid and resources to cause havoc and disorder in Albion diverting military units from fighting the UNTF._

 _Total Military strength: N/A, Before the army was dissolved Albion had the second largest army and the largest navy in whole Halkeginia._

 _5 ) Holy Romalian Empire_

 _It is an empire that is presently equivalent to the Papal States from the Renaissance period of European history. It is considered as the birthplace of present religion in Halkeginia is also the holiest site for the natives. The Romalian empire is also considered hostile due to having sponsored the construction of Gate and the Invasion of Japan. It is ruled by a papacy._

 _Form of Government: Theocratic absolute elective monarchy_

 _Head of the state: Pope Victor XXXII._

 _Capital : Roma_

 _Language : Romalian or Latin._

 _Status: possible Hostile_

 _Total Military strength: probably hundreds_

 _Note: The nation of Romalia has the religious control upon other nations and might have instigated the opening of the Gate to Earth._

 _6) Holy Land_

 _The real name of this country is unknown but this place is considered as Holy land by the Halkeganians. This area is inhabited by another species known as Elves. Little is known about their society or their location of their nation. This nation is situated in the Sahara desert._

 _Form of Government: Unknown_

 _Head of the State: Unknown_

 _Capital: Unknown_

 _Language: Unknown_

 _Status: Unknown_

 _Total Military strength: Unknown, from the information received from the prisoners' Elves are more advanced than any other human state in this world._

These Kingdoms are the carbon copies of former European powers during the Renaissance, Their names are so similar and the languages they use are also similar to Languages used now in France, UK. Though Romalia used Latin and Germania used old German dialect and Tristain used Medieval French. He thought-out loud.

As he was halfway through the file the door of his office is knocked.

" Come in, " He said.

Yagida enters the room and salutes Hazama " General Sir the recon teams are ready to head out into the special region for Recon and first contact with the Civilian population of this region."

" Then order them to proceed to their designated routes provided to them and bring some good info on the lay of the land. " Hazama replied.

" Yes Sir " Yagida replied

" One more thing Lt. before you leave what have we found about the strange crystals from the wreckage of those airships."

" Sir nothing can be determined about those crystals except being theorised that those are used to power those ships. The first batch of are already being prepared to be sent through the Gate for further research. "

" Very well Lt. you may leave now, " Hazama said calmly.

" Yes Sir " Replied Yagida as he saluted Hazama and exited the room.

" We are facing not a single nation but an alliance of nation driven by some kind of holy crusade to invade the Elves but instead invaded us by mistake ." Hazama sighed as he returned back reading the rest of the content in the file.

Fort Endurance, JSDF Briefing room.

The room was a fairly big briefing room. Itami was along with other four JSDF officers in the room. Infront of them was their colonel.

JSDF was given the separate command of their own units unlike the combined command of International units under UNTF.

" You all have been given the command of 11 men platoons. Your mission is to make contact with the civilian population engage peaceful relations and learn about them, their culture, economy and anything you can that can be useful for our operation. I suggest you follow these routes as several settlements have been noticed along these routes. You all must be in touch with the base by reporting in every four hours. UAVs have not detected any enemy presence in this area, our guess is that they have already retreated from this area to regroup. Avoid enemy contact as best as possible."

" Any Questions " Colonel asked.

" No sir " was the answer from the officers.

" Very well, you are all free to go" Colonel replied.

Itami sighed as he had to now go on a mission deep behind enemy lines. He slowly stood up and left the briefing room. Less than an hour later he was ready to go.

Third Recon Team aka Recon Team Three ( RTC 3 ) was ready to depart on the main road. As Itami arrived he saw his men having a good laugh with the international unit added to them.

As Itami arrived the head of the International unit a British officer from the looks of his uniform greeted him with a handshake.

" Lt. Itami I presume, I am Lt. Arran of the British army "

Itami nods as he shakes Arran hand with a smile.

"So Lt. Itami here are my men. Private Carter, and Private James from the British army."

"Sir Pleased to meet you, Sir" was the greeting of the two. Beside them are Sergeant Beaman and Corporal Cardwell from the French army, Both the men snapped a quick salute, which Itami returned back.

These are the crew members of the Marder IFV that is attached to our unit. Second Lt. Bauer Kalb Commander, Gunner Erwin and Driver Franz, in an instant those men also saluted Itami.

" Last but not the least our local language expert Corporal Falke Muller. "

" We do have common knowledge and language books why do we need translators now," Itami asked.

" Sir " Muller said " I am trained to speak the Germanian language and also will be read the local runes used by the inhabitants of this world. "

" Oh, " Itami said " You are going to be useful as he shakes his hand looking forward to working with you "

Itami then turns toward Arran

"Lt. Arran It is good to have you and your men joining us, and please call me Itami you know we are in the same rank."

" Ok then Itami, call me Arran. " He said with a smile as Itami nodded.

" So are we ready to move out sir? " Carter asked.

" We will be moving out in 10 minutes private just let me see that my squad is ready or not " Itami replied and walks back to his men.

The JSDF Soldiers were waiting for their commander to arrive they stood in a line facing towards Itami.

" Fall in " Sgt Major Kuwahara commanded " Third Recon Team ready to go, sir"

" Hey Pops, how are you? " Itami said while smiling.

" I am still going strong sir " He replied

Itami noticed his platoon consisted of some old faces including Kurata and Tomita from his base and also new ones including two female members in his platoon.

" Thanks for falling in or whatever I am lt. Itami, your team leader. " Itami said " Like I have introduced myself, I would like to know all your names so we can know each other better, right. "

" So lets us begin from the left "

" Sgt Major Soichiro Kuwahara, sir "

" Master Sgt Tetsuya Nishina, sir "

" Sgt First class Akira Tomita, sir "

" Sgt First class Mari Kurokawa, sir "

" Sgt First class Shino Kuribayashi, ready for action, sir "

" Sgt Takeo Kurata, sir It is good to have you with us, sir. "

" Leading Private Daisuke Tozu, sir "

" Leading Private Wataru Karsumoto, sir "

" Leading Private Hayato Sasagawa, sir "

" Leading Private Hitoshi Furuta, sir "

" Leading Private Higara Higashi, Reporting for duty sir. "

" All right let get cracking folks, " Itami said

" Mount up " Kuwahara ordered

He then turned towards Arran who was standing beside his own team. " Arran we are ready to move out "

Arran replied " Roger that Itami, Men mount up and get ready to move out "

" Yes, sir " was the unison answer they boarded their vehicles to move out.

The recon team moved out of the base with Itami in his Lead Toyota HMV, a type 73 light truck, The LAV armed with 50 cal browning machine gun with Rotation armoured turret for extra protection followed by British Land Rover and Marder IFV. On each vehicle sides was painted with white letters "UN" just above the local language.

East of Alnus base ( Location unknown )

The convey was rolling at a moderate pace on the little dirt road. They Left their base 40 minutes ago, the roads were awful as it can be expected from a medieval empire. As the armoured convoy of 5 vehicles tried to pass through terrain full of bumps from the uneven road and it wasn't anything pleasant to see. After a while testing the nerves of the recon team a wide road was visible to everybody's happiness, even it was more like a wide trail.

Recon 3 headed south-west leaving a trail of dust at the maximum speed of 40 km/h.

For past 20 minutes, the 5 UN vehicles rolled through a large plain surrounded by groves on the edges of the road.

Kurata driver of Itami's HMV asked " Sir, What do you think we will meet in this new world?

" I hope whatever we meet it would be least of our troubles we are facing already. "

" Man I would like me meet a fantasy girl! A magical one or a beautiful elf with a massive rack. hehe. "

" Oy Kurata you wish might be fulfilled one day, there is a lot of potentials and I am too excited about it, I pray to god your wishes to be fulfilled and we might meet someone of your description. " Itami smiled as he spoke to his driver.

Meanwhile, on the highway towards Italica, a certain elf girl wearing a large hat covering her elf ears, rode through the highway on her horse. Though her friends have accepted her people of Germania have not. Germanians possess intense hate for the elf kind.

She suddenly sneezed, she thought " someone might be thinking about me right now. "

( 20 minutes later )

The convoy rolled through the forest, everyone was silent as they scanned the area for any possible threats, though the enemy lacked the firepower they have the still posses rudimentary firearms and the use of magical attacks which can be very painful for a close-range attack.

" Sir " Kurata said, " we are nearing the location of the first village marked on the map, right among those trees up there."

The convoy came to a halt, Itami disembarked his HMV and peeked through his binoculars.

Lt. Arran came and stood beside Itami

" What do we have here leftenant? "

" Arran you see the forest up at 11 o clock, well there is a village out there, estimated distance 1 click from our present position. "

" Roger that, we will be ready for any hostile approach from the villagers. "

" Arran please don't scare those people out there, we are here to make friendly interaction with the civilians, not to just enter their village with our guns blazing."

" Copy that " Arran replied

( 15 minutes later ) Coda Village, Special Region.

The convoy arrived at the gate. The lead HMV came to a halt followed by other vehicles of the column. Some members of the convoy disembarked from their vehicles. Itami and Muller were the first to enter the village through the small wooden gate. Itami was chosen to enter because he was the leader of the Team and Muller being the Translator and local language expert.

They both noticed the villagers were tending their daily chores and children playing around. In return, they also received a curious look from the villagers.

" Who are they? what's with their clothes, are they are wearing uniforms?, What a peculiar set of clothes these people are wearing, Are they soldiers? " were few questions the villagers asked among themselves in their native tongue.

While Itami was having a little bit of difficulty to understand the villagers, Muller knew what they were discussing about due to his proper language training from Itami whose local language skills were still in the rudimentary stage.

Itami came forward and stopped near a man who was caring some wood and an axe.

" Hello, Me Itami, bring peace, me soldier, need information "

The man looked confused by the way Itami was speaking to him.

Noticing the confused look Muller took over the discussion.

" Sir let me do the talking, " Muller said before turning towards the ma.

" Hello sir we soldiers from a faraway land, we just need information of this area."

" Speak to the elder then" the man replied while pointing towards an old man in his mid-fifties seating on a bench, looking at them with a questioning eye.

When the man was approached he rose from his bench and took off his hat.

" Hello sir, I am Muller and this is our leader Itami."

" Welcome to Coda village, What can we help you with ?" he asked.

" We came in peace sir, may we take a seat and talk. "

" Yes, why not, please take a seat on the bench. Who are you, people? From your uniform, I presume you are soldiers "

" Yes, of course, we both are, Along with my friends just outside the village," Muller replied with a smile.

" Hm? you friends? "

" Yes sir, can you permit them to enter the village? "

" Yes yes, of course, you are all welcome here " The elder replied with a broad smile.

" Sir we have the permission," Muller said.

" Affirmative" Itami then turned on his radio and relayed the order to enter.

" RCT actual to RCT 2, do you copy? " Itami asked.

" Loud and clear RCT actual," Kuwahara said.

" Bring in the cars but leave the IFV at the gate, copy that "

" Copy that RCT actual, RCT 2 out"

Shortly afterwards the vehicles of RCT 3 minus the IFV entered the village. People were amazed and terrified to see these unknown iron horseless carriages entering their village. On the side of these moving carriages there were strange inscriptions painted on them, Just above the unknown alphabets there was the local language used by the empire. It read.

U-N...

UN ?

What it was and what it meant was a mystery for them as more of these strange soldiers got out of them.

I have never seen these carriages move without horses before, Where are you all from? are you all some kind of knight order? Are these all carriages running through magic ? were some of the questions asked by the village chief.

" No, no we are common soldiers we are not from any Knight order, neither these vehicles are running through the use of magic," Muller replied

" We are from a very far away land called Earth "

" What you all are doing here this far away from your home? "

" We are exploring this land, We are exploring soldiers," Itami said.

" So you all are a scouting party. " The elderly man was clearly afraid he heard rumours about a known army invading Germania and they had already destroyed the army sent to counter them. He didn't want his village to be sacked all the villagers enslaved or killed by the invaders.

With fear clearly visible in his voice he asked " What can a small village like us do for you, my lords? "

Muller quickly noticed the fear in the Elder's face he reassured him.

" Sir we are not going to sack or doing anything like that, we are here just to ask directions and have a friendly interaction with you people. "

As Itami with the help of Muller conversed with the chief the villagers started to slowly try to interact with these unknown men. The first ones were being the children as not caring about their parents warning they surrounded Higashi who was handing out some candies he had on him.

Pvt Carter was playing with the kids while James was trying to keep some curious away from their vehicles. As per Kurokawa, her unusual facial features and hair colour was really catching the attention of some young men in the village.

Itami now joined by Arran were reviewing the map provided by the Elder, they were marking the point of interest on their map so those places can be reconned before returning back to their base.

After 15 more minutes of talking and reviewing through the map, they were ready to leave. As the RCT3 left the village some villagers waved at them as they left a cloud of dust.

( Meanwhile, 50 clicks away from the Coda village )

A settlement larger than the Coda village was now being sacked by the men from Imperial fists Serpent Company. They had killed all the inhabitants of the village and were now burning the village and the farmlands nearby the village which was being used these villagers to obtain their livelihood. Captain Noldid stood over the body of the village chief who pleaded him not to kill them and even promised to keep their mouth shut even if their village was burned to the ground and asked him to let them go.

Noldid disregarded their pleas and just thrust his sword into the man's chest before ordering his men to start pillaging the village but leave the Brimir's temple alone. As the temple was a holy monument and being a noble himself he dared to demolish it.

" Sire we have completed the destruction of this settlement, no survivors found. I am confident all the commoners are dealt with."

" Very good, After burning the farmland we will be heading towards our base camp and rest for today, tomorrow we will head towards the Coda village. " Noldid said while he reloaded his flintlock pistol.

He then handed his second in command the official copy of Imperial decree from his Majesty.

He chuckled to himself when he read the Decree out loud to the villagers and watching their faces going pale to know why these men are here for.

He asked one of his men " How much time did we took to fully annihilate this village.? "

" Sire most probably 20 to 30 minutes at best. "

" Hmm.. we have to be much faster than this "

His soldier nodded and mounted his dragon.

They prepared to move back to the camp as he mounted his dragon flew towards their camp. Unknown to him and his second in command by mistake the Decree had fallen off from the bag due to being overloaded with loot mostly food articles taken from the villagers.

Special Region, RCT3 present location.

The sun was going down as the armoured convoy reached the tree line of the nearby forest. Itami was informed by Coda village Chief that there is a village large than Coda in between the enormous forest.

" Lt. I suggest we should camp in front of the forest tonight" Kuwahara suggest.

" Guess you are right old timer " Itami replied.

" Sir why can't we just plough through the forest and meet the settlements out there? " Kurata asked.

" If we enter the forest now, we would be at the gate of the settlement at night and can be perceived as a threat. We cannot even camp in the forest tonight, I don't want to face unknown creatures or even enemy soldiers ambushing us in our camps. "

Kurata nodded to Itami's explanation.

" Well sir I heard your language skills are rea... ohh" Kurata was hit by the red translation book.

" If you don't keep your mouth shut then beware I have more books and not afraid to use..." He was cut off by Kuwahara

" What's that Lt. ? " he asked.

They saw thick black smoke rising from the other side of the village.

" hey, Itami " the radio came to life " are you seeing what I am seeing? "

" Affirmative Arran, It is like a massive fire has started in between the Forest & it is coming from the location of our Present objective. "

" I don't like the looks of it"

" Lt Kalb, I want your IFV to be the lead vehicle of the column I do not want to be walking into an ambush right now. " Itami ordered.

" Roger That"

The Convoy came to a halt as the IFV changed its location from the rear to the front.

" Arran please report our present situation to the base via radio. Keep moving forward we need to get through the forest ASAP. "

He felt bad for the village out there, What could have happened to them? he thought.

At full speed the convoy crossed through the forest, the view of a burning village came closer and closer.

To be continued...

* * *

 _Phew over at last, Well enjoy and do not forget to review it. Once again I will not be posting for a while. I have also adopted the " War of the Worlds " Attack on titan fanfic from one of my favourite writers Apollonir, Due to the shortage of time and studies he decided to drop the story. But being a diehard AOT fan I asked him if he can just let me adopt it so I can continue it. He is a very good writer and I love his " Iron Heart of Man " story. Any Mass effect fan here I recommend just go and try it, I guarantee you would not be disappointed. "_

 _Stay tuned for next chapter. Discoveries and the Green Guardians._

 _Though the update might take a little more time than usual, hehe._


	7. 6 Discoveries and Green Guardians

_Guys peacekeeper is back with another chapter, enjoy._

* * *

 **Ch - Discoveries and Green Guardians.**

(40 minutes before RCT 3 arrival )

Today the village was full of life, The preparations for the Harvest festival was in full swing. But all was not right for Elvira, instead of helping her friends and neighbours for the festival's preparation she was struck along with her elder sister for doing the house chores as their parents were now working hard on the fields in harvesting the last bit of crops remaining.

Elvira was helping her sister helping in mopping the floor of their house. Out of a sudden, she heard an animal most probably a dragon's roar from the sky. She still holding the mop ran towards the window of their house and saw a group of Dragon knights flying towards their village.

Many villagers stopped whatever work they were doing and shifted their attention towards the dragon knights flying closer and closer towards the village.

" They are coming from the direction Italica is located. " a man said while looking towards the sky.

" They must be Imperial troops, thanks to founder Brimir the army has returned we are safe again.

" Oh praise the founder, we are safe again. "

" The Empire has not abandoned us yet "

People began to cheer and clap with joy and happiness that with the return of the Imperial army, law and order would be restored again which had deteriorated after the defeat and near annihilation of the Imperial legions along with their Gallian allies at foothills of the Alnus Hill. After that defeat, the Imperial army pulled out completely from the province leaving its people to fend up the invading army themselves.

The Village council after a brief meeting even decided to provide most of their harvest willingly to the invaders and even going as far as pledging their allegiance to this new powerful kingdom for their own survival and sparing the village from getting pillaged and destroyed.

A couple of weeks later news begun to spread the Invaders hadn't even moved an inch from their current position which was a sign of relief for them. But with the retreat of the Imperial legions along with the death of their Count and the destruction of half of the local militia and guard units there was an acute rise in the acts of banditry and crime all over the province.

With the Town watch and militia being confined to the city walls of the provincial capital Italica there was no one left to maintain the law and order in the rural areas of the province.

With that, the rumours of a large brigand army containing the deserters from the Imperial legions and the Gallian army was also causing fear and panic all over the rural settlements in the province which little to no defence against them.

But with the return of the Imperial army, everything was going to change again. Law and order would return back to the land and they would this time surely be able to drive back the foreign invaders from their land.

A few moments later a detachment dragons knights along with their commander begun to descend from the skies towards the center of the village, While other knights started to patrol the village and surrounding from the skies.

Elvira after watching the dragons descend quickly turned towards her sister.

" Big sister, can I go and take a look at those dragons out there, please? she asked with pleading eyes.

" Elvira you know that those tricks of yours stopped working on me after you turned 15 so don't do it, it is not going to work on me and for going out the answer is no. " She replied

" But big sister I have never seen a dragon up close before. "

" No means no Elvira. " Her sister replied sternly.

She sighs in defeat " Ok big sister. " and continues moping the floor with a sad face.

" You can go, " her sister said " But on one condition. "

Elvira face light up " What is it, big sister? "

" Nothing much just complete the mopping of the floor of this room and you are free to go and take a look."

" Thank you, big sister thank you. "

With a renewed vigour of hope, she worked hard and completed the mopping of the floor within minutes.

" Big sister my work is complete, can I go now ?" She asked.

" Well that was fast" her sister replied and kneeled down to check the floor.

" Perfect," she said " You can go out now but do not linger outside for much longe... " she was interrupted when she heard people screaming and running from the center of the village.

" What is going on? " She said to herself as she along with Elvira went out of their house to see the commotion taking place on the streets.

To her absolute horror, she saw the dragons were now flying low and were setting the houses on fire with their fire breath. A man came running down the street shouting followed by a crowd.

" Those knights are here to kill us all, those knights are here to kill us all run for your lives. "

Elvira holds her sister's hand " Why are they doing this? we haven't done anything to hurt the empire or the emperor. "

" I don't know Elvira " her sister replied " But we have to run now"

" What about our mother and father? "

" They might have escaped to the jungle right now, our field is much closer to the forest. So don't worry about them right now. "

Both the girls joined the crowd as they all tried to escape towards the southern gate of the village. Only to find out the gates are already blocked off by a group of 10 men in black-clad armour armed with muskets.

" Ohhhh see the commoner rats are trying to escape from their rat hole " one of the knights mocked.

" Why are you doing this. ?" a woman yelled at them.

" Haven't you all heard we are here to help you all meet your maker. "

" Prepare to fire "

The villagers tried to scatter before the volley is fired but it was already too late.

" Fireeee. "

The musket balls pierced through the body of the poor villagers like a hot knife through butter and even hitting poor souls standing right behind the victims.

" Draw swords and wands lads, leave none alive, Happy hunting." Their commander ordered.

The knights on the ground begun to hack and slash through the villagers as ordered and even sending magical attacks to eliminate them. Women, Children, elderly none were spared by the knights.

Meanwhile both the sisters were running towards the center of the village.

" Where are we going, big sister ?" Elvira asked still shaken by the destruction and carnage happening all around the village.

" They are nobles, Elvira they would dare not to discrete or destroy the Brimir's temple. We are going to take shelter inside the temple until all of this is over. "

As they took a turn they a saw a group of people being burned alive by a dragon that was flying low looking for pry from the sky.

" We can't go that way, big sister. "

" I know. "

" Hey " someone called out from behind " Those two rats are trying to escape get them."

" Run sister run " Both the girls start running, Elvira taking the lead closely followed by her sister.

But before they were able to escape, one of their pursuers trained his musket and opened fire. The musket ball hit Elvira sister in the back cutting through her and grazing Elvira on her left hand. Due to being shot she lost her footing and tripped over hitting her head on the hard rock surface.

She lost her consciousness while her elder sister fell over her. She slowly bleeds out to death still shielding her sister.

" Nice shot sire, you got two rats in a single shot. Your marksmanship is amazing. "

" That's the reason why I am the second in command of this company Helfert. "

Another Knight comes running towards them.

" Sire Commander has ordered us back to the Founder's temple. We will be pulling out, the extermination is over."

" Very well " he replied " Let's go, Helfert, our work is over here.

( 15 minutes before RCT 3 Arrival )

Elvira slowly regains her consciousness and tries to get up only to feel the weight of someone or something over her. She removes the weight and begins to feel the warm sensation around her back. She notices her dress is drenched in someone's blood. She slowly turns her head towards to find out her sister lying beside her and the blood was none other than her own sister

"Ohh no Big sister, wake up" shaking her lifeless body while tears dropping on the floor. " Please wake up, don't leave me alone in this world, pleaseee."

Realization hit her, her sister was dead, she died shielding her from being shot by that knight, But she doesn't want to believe it yet.

" Big sister Please get up, What would I do without you ?. " She stood up

" I have to find someone to help us. "

She wiped away her tears and slowly walks towards the temple bypassing the dead littered all over the street while covering mouth through her hands.

Finally, she arrives at the location where she sees a boy little older than her sitting on the steps of the temple holding a piece of paper in one hand while clutching his wounded stomach on other trying to stop the constant flow of blood coming out from his wounds.

She ran towards him only to find out he was none other than her best friend Hecter.

" Elvira thanks to the founder yo...u are still alive. "

She tears a bit of cloth from her dress and attempts to stop the flow of blood.

" No El...Elvira, it's too late for me. "

" Hecter, let me help you, I have already lost my sister, I don't know my parents are alive or not. I cannot lose you now. " She pleads as her eyes are filled with tears again.

" Elvira listen to me, I have already lost a lot of blood. I am barely keeping myself conscious right now. Here take this. " He hands over a piece of paper he was holding to her. " This piece of paper is more important than my life right now. "

" Why "

" This paper holds the proof that our beloved emperor is a monster. I have to use the last ounce of my strength in order to save this document from burning up from the fire. "

" Heh, their commander thought leaving me to die a slow death was a good idea. "

He coughs up blood " My time has come, * cough * * cough* Elvira I wanted to say something to yo... before I leave this realm. "

" What Hecter ? "

" I...alwa..ys...lov..." He died in her arms before even being able to complete his confession.

" No Hecter No !, you can't leave me. I have lost everyone I cannot lose you too, please don't go." tears begun to flow uncontrollably. Just then it began to rain.

She sat there beside his body crying over the sorrow of losing everyone she every knew from her childhood. Her parents, her elder sister, her best friend everyone was dead. She was truly alone in this world right now.

She sat there beside Hecter's lifeless body like a statue, still holding his hand while tears flow from her eyes. The pain of losing everyone was too much for her. She was so engrossed in the pain of losing so much today she couldn't hear the pacing of several footsteps coming towards her.

( Present )

RCT 3 reached the source of the heavy smoke. The convoy entered the burning village. Most of the houses were on fire, but what horrified them the most were the dead. The streets of the village were littered with dozens of corpses of men, women and even children scattered all over the place.

Arran got out of his vehicle and shouted. " EVERYONE! GRAB EMERGENCY GEAR! DOUSE THE FIRE WITH EXTINGUISHERS AND SEARCH FOR SURVIVORS! GO GO GO ".

Itami relayed the order to his men in Japanese as both JSDF and International troops sprang out of their vehicles splitting into two groups, Itami along with his team begun to search for survivors while Arran's group tried in vain to control the fire.

" Muller, go with Itami his local language skills are deplorable, he might create more confusion than we need right now. " Arran ordered.

" Jawohl " He replied as he ran towards Itami's group.

( 20 minutes later )

" Come out! If anybody can hear us, please come out. It's United Nations Task Force, we are here to help. "

Muller kept on calling out in the local language in hopes for any survivors to hear him and come out of his or her hiding. Though the chances of finding any survivors in this massacre were very low.

Kurokawa kneeled down to check the body of a young girl most probably 17 or 18 years old.

" Anything you got Doc ?" Itami asked

" Sir " she replied with a sad tone " She died like the others 20 to 30 minutes ago."

" What the hell happened here. Lt ? "

" I don't know Kurata but what I had heard from heard from Arran, this village might have fallen victim to ethnic cleansing. " Itami replied.

" How does he know about that sir. ? " Kuwahara asked.

" He had been in several UN Peacekeeping missions before. He has more experience in these matters than rest of us. "

Itami this is Arran, have you found any survivors yet. over

Negative no survivors yet. Over he replies through his radio.

Other teams have also reported no survivors found. we are heading towards the center of the village for the last sweep. we will rendezvous there, how copy?

Affirmative, over and out.

Arran's group minus IFV's crew had joined them in search for survivors. 10 minutes ago they were trying to control the fire from spreading. As their extinguishers were about to run out dry, it began to rain which stopped the fire from spreading over the remaining structures and the forest. If it hadn't rained they might have been forced to pull out from the village and the forest itself for their own safety.

" It'd be a miracle if anyone survived this," Kurata said. Just then Muller held his fist up and the team came to stop.

" What do you find, Corporal? "

" I think we might have just found a survivor. " Muller replied while pointing towards the surprisingly untouched structure where a girl sat beside a body of a boy.

" Oh my god. " Kurokawa said before rushing towards her followed by others.

" Miss are you all right. " Muller asks in Germanian as they arrive at the spot, while Kurokawa kneels down to check the pulse of the boy.

The girl slowly raises her head and looks around, she had a bruise on her forehead and a small cut on her left arm, the girl's blonde hair was messed up. Though pretty much unharmed except those few bruises and cuts she looked visibly shaken and confused from the looks of her eyes and her dress was drenched with someone's blood.

" Who is not going to be confused if you are surrounded by men in strange clothes and armour and weapons in front of you. " Muller thought.

Then her confused look turned into a fearful one. Kurokawa shook her head, "We are too late for this boy. " She said and turned her attention towards the girl.

The girl suddenly stands and backs off from Kurokawa and rest of the group.

" Are you all Imperial mercenaries ? " she asks

" You are here to finish the work your masters started, aren't you."

" Wait we are not... " Muller was interrupted when she spoke again as she looked right into his eyes.

" Then I beg you please make it quick." tears began to form in her eyes again. " Those knights have already taken everything from me. My parents, my sister, my friends, my home everything. I am all alone in this world now. "

The girl kneels down in front of them. " Just make it quick, I don't want to feel any pain. "

She then began to mutter some sought of a prayer closing her eyes waiting for her life to end.

Muller stood there stunned. He couldn't comprehend a girl not more than 14 to 15 years old was asking them to end her suffering for being the last survivor of this massacre.

Muller goes and places his hand on the girl's shoulder.

She opens her eyes to look up at the face of her would be the executioner.

" Miss, we are not part of the imperial army nor some paid mercenaries doing their dirty work. "

" Who are you ? " she asks shocked by this revelation.

" We are part of the United Nations Task Force and we are here to help. "

The girl suddenly loses her consciousness and falls upon Muller's shoulders.

" Medic "

He lies her down as Kurokawa begins to check her for injuries.

Itami along with Kurata checked the surrounding area of the building for any more survivors when another group of their men arrived.

" Sir " Kuwahara saluted

" At ease Sgt Major. " Itami replied as he saluted back " Did you find any survivors in your sweep. "

" It's a negative, sir, the Perpetrators of this massacre have made damn sure not to leave any survivors behind. "

" Well, they failed here. We just have found a survivor. " pointing towards a girl on the ground been taken care by Kurokawa now being joined by Kuribayashi.

" She is the only survivor. I guess."

" I am not losing hope, old man. we are still waiting for Arran's team to arrive. "

" Were you able to acquire any information about the destruction of this village? " Kuwahara asked.

" Not much, she just asked us if we were some mercenary group hired to finish the... " Something clicked inside Itami's head, His eyes widened. " Knights, " he said out loud, " She asked are we hired by some knight order for cleanup operation in the village. "

" Do you mean... "

" Yes, the purge of this village might be a state-sanctioned operation. " Itami stated. " This is not a work of some roving Bandit group or a religiously motivated mad mob bent on killing off those who oppose their religion but instead Soldiers of their empire. "

" But why do this to your own people? "

" That is the question bugging me right now pops. " Itami replied.

" Herr Leutnant."

Itami looked back to see Muller was standing behind him.

" What is it, corporal? "

" Sir you have to see this." He handed Itami a bloodstained piece of paper. Itami looks into it, though unable to read the content he was able to recognise the seal on the paper. It was the seal of the nation UN is currently fighting a war with.

" Its look like some sort of official document." he thought.

" Yes sir, I found this document tightly held by our survivor. " He continued

" Sir, according to this document, Scorched earth tactics have been initiated in this Province. All and every may it be a small village or a town would be burned to the ground al... " Muller stopped, from his face Itami could see the young man was shaken. " Muller speaks up " he ordered.

" Yes sir. " coming back to his senses he continued. " burn the village or Town along with its population. "

" This is not good. " Kurata said.

" Corporal I want you to contact Lt. Kalb and ask him to contact base command immediately and relay the content of this document to them. Also, ask them if they could spare some units to help bury these bodies."

" Jawohl " Muller then contacted Kalb and relayed the message through his radio.

Itami pushed the button on his radio and spoke.

Arran do you copy? over

loud and clear over

What's your ETA, over

15 minutes or so, there is still too much ground to cover yet. over

Arran cancel the SAR mission, we are pulling out.

What, Why there might be survivors out here.

Arran we have just discovered a document containing important info about the destruction of this village. Right now we need to head back towards Coda village that village might be the next target. do you copy?

Affirmative, heading back towards the convoy, over and out.

Itami then walked where the only survivor of this massacre was taken care off.

" How is she Doc? " Itami asked.

" Physically except a few bruises and cuts she is alright. " after a bit pause she continued. " The reason she lost her consciousness was due to fever and also having a nervous breakdown due to the death of her family and friends has taken a toll on her. "

" Yes I know, She even went suicidal asking us to end her suffering," Itami replied.

" Hey, Corporal can you help me carry the girl back to our convoy. ? "

" Roger that mam" Muller replied as he picked up the girl in bridal style and began walking back towards the convoy along with rest of the group.

" What about the bodies Lt. ? " Kuribayashi asked.

" We do not have the manpower now to bury them right now. I have requested the base command to send some help if they can spare. We also need to warn the settlement we came across this morning about the impending attack they might face anytime. It is also getting dark out here and I don't want to know what lurks in the jungle in the dead of the night. " he replied.

( 30 minutes later )

The convoy had already passed through the forest and was on the way back towards the Coda village. The trip back to Coda was a silent one. Nobody talked or made jokes as they were doing in the morning.

' Things we witnessed today are going to be engraved in everyone's minds days to come. ' Itami thought.

He gave a quick glance towards the rear of the HMMV where the only survivor from the village is being taken care off. According to Kurokawa, the girl is just exhausted and she will be alright taking a little bit of rest.

" Heh, I might be needing a therapy after this," he muttered.

RCT 3 this is the base command, come in RCT 3 the radio crackled to life.

This is RCT 3, we read you loud and clear over.

RCT 3, your request for additional support has been granted, RCT 1 has been diverted towards the village level settlement you made contact with. over.

Thanks for the support base command, over

Take care out there RCT 3, over and out.

" So we are getting reinforcements? "

" That's an affirmative Kurata and please concentrate on driving, this pitch black road creeps me out. "

" Sir, I suggest we set up camp two klicks away from the Coda village. If we enter the village right now we will be freaking the natives out. "

" You are the right old man, It is midnight already and our men need to have a rest after what we went through today. Relay the order. " Itami replied.

A few hours later the convoy came to a halt just 2 km away from the Coda village and set up their camp there.

UNTF Fort Endurance, Special Region, August 19, 2019

10.45 pm ( Earth Time)

Command Center, General Hazama's Office

Hazama leaned back in his chair, Before him on the table was the latest situation report provided to him by his aide.

The Recon missions he authorised to commence today morning hadn't produced any results yet. He had expected the recon teams would be facing some difficulties like scared locals and even strange wildlife. But he was not prepared for this at all.

The map and reports of the surrounding area those were provided to him by the Drone command were a day older. According to which the bridge which RCT 1 was meant to cross was intact and probably in good condition, but today when they arrived 70 km from Fort Endurance the bridge was gone. The wooden bridge was burnt to the ground. Their recon mission had to be aborted and they were ordered back to base.

RCT 2 and RCT 4 were meant to make contact with the settlements as described by the previous drone recon reports were bustling with life. Instead, they found only death and destruction. Not a single survivor was recovered from those settlements. Due to the fact, no enemy military presence was detected before it was deduced to be work of bandit groups.

RCT 3 was the only group to have made the first contact with the local population in this area. The village is called Coda and is considered to be friendly in nature. But a few hours later the same reports of death and destruction arrives. The neighbouring settlement was also attacked and was destroyed. But unlike the previous settlements which had no survivors, they were able to find one. More so RCT 3 was also able to recover an official imperial order which specifies the beginning of scorched earth in this province and every village in this area was deemed expendable and is to be purged.

' Well this is bad ' he thought ' when the news of these incidents reaches the other side of the gate. Lots of fingers are going to be pointed towards us for not doing anything even if we have nothing to do with it at all.'

He then heard someone knocking his door.

" Come in."

The door opens and Yanagida enters the room.

" Sir, as you have ordered RCT 1 has been sent towards RCT 3's previous location designated as Coda village. They will Rendezvous with them there. The attack helicopters you asked for are being prepped and will be ready for combat by morning. "

" That's good, what about the extension of Drone recon."

" They will be beginning their operations with the first light in the morning. " Yanagida replied. "

" Anything else to report Lieutenant? "

" It's a negative sir. "

" Very well you may go now," Hazama ordered.

Yanagida exited the room leaving Hazama behind.

2 Km from Coda Village

Elvira slowly opened her eyes, she looked around and noticed she was inside a strange cabin. She slowly raises her hand to feel its wall and felt the cold sensation of steel. As she began to come back to her senses she realized she was in some sort of a steel cabin and she was covered by a blanket.

She slowly peeked into her blanket only to realize her clothes were gone.

' Where am I ? ' she thought

' What am I doing here? '

Judging by the state of her present condition she began to speculate the people she met before losing her consciousness were probably slave traders and she was being prepared to be sold at a market.

As Elvira was still in her thought planning to escape from the clutches of these people. The door of the cabin suddenly flanged open.

A woman in strange green clothes entered the cabin, she waved at her and said something in a foreign tongue. Elvira put off a confused look on her face.

The woman then slowly pulled a red book from her pocket and began to read it.

" Hello how are you ? " she said in the broken tongue.

" Who are you? " Elvira asked.

" I am Mari Kurokawa nice to meet you."

" I am Elvira. "

" How are you feeling? "

" I am fine," Elvira replied. " What am I doing here? "

" We found you, in the village not far from here. Village destroyed you only alive."

Elvira lowered her head in sadness tears begun to flow through her cheeks again.

" hey don't cry " Kurokawa consoled her.

" I am the only survivor from my village. Everyone I know is dead. I just want to die."

After a few minutes, Elvira slowly goes back to sleep.

" How is she? " Itami asked standing just outside the HMV.

" Her fever has gone down but she is still traumatized by the loss of her family and friends, it is going to take some time for her to overcome it. "

" Alright then." looking towards the horizon as the sun begun to rise. " We will be moving out in 2 hours. "

Coda Village ( 2 hours later )

RCT 3 arrived at the gate of the village, the villagers were surprised to see them back in a day. The Elder came outside to greet them.

"Good day and welcome back soldiers. What can I help you with ?"

" We have bad news for you, sir " Itami said.

" Bad news, " The Elder asked.

" The neighbouring village we were supposed to make contact was wiped out."

" Wiped out ?!" The Elder was shocked along with the rest of the villagers gathered around.

" How can this happen ?, Who did this? "

" It might be hard for you all to believe but, it is the work of the Imperial army."

After hearing this the Elder along with the gathered villagers was shocked. Fear and Panic slowly started to a grip on them. People began to run back to their house and gather their belonging in order to flee. It was turning into a chaos and even RCT 3 was being unable to control them until..

" What proof do you have? " Someone yelled authoritative tone.

The villagers stopped whatever work they were doing and looked towards the old man walking towards those strange soldiers who warned them about the attack.

The man was in his fifties and worn blue wizard clothes along with his blue pointed wizard hat and had a long grey beard.

"My Lord Ca..." The old man raised his hand

" Don't Lord me Percival, How many times I have to tell you all folks that I have already renounced my Noble title ages ago, Sage Cato will be fine."

" I apologize sage Cato. " The Elder replied.

He began walking towards Itami's men and asked again " What proof do you have, that the settlement was destroyed by the Imperial army, not by bandits. "

" We have the proof. " Itami replied signalling Kurata to bring the document recovered from the village.

He handed the document to him.

Cato took a quick glance at the contents of the document but stopped the end. Being a former noble he was quick to recognise the seal of his Imperial Majesty.

" They are telling the truth, Percival," he said lowering his head.

" The Founder has forsaken us." someone cried. The villagers began to panic again.

" Wait. " Cato ordered " We if Panic now we will be creating more problem for us. I believe though the rural area of this province has been ordered to be destroyed the Urban centers are not to be touched. We just have to escape to a near city in order to survive. "

" This calmed the villagers a bit and now they began to prepare for their evacuation in a much orderly way."

" Thank you, Sage Cato. " The elder said.

In return, the old man nodded in agreement.

" You two " He signalled two young boys. " Come with me I need you to help me pack my belongings for this journey."

" Yes sir . " the boys replied and started to follow him towards his house just outside the village.

" Sir," Itami said. " We need to ask you a favour. "

" Anything, oh noble warriors, you warned us about the attack. You can ask anything in return." Elder said.

Itami led the Elder towards the back of his HMV and opened its read doors, revealing a young girl sleeping and covered with a blanket.

" She is the only survivor we found in the village. Could you take care of her? "

" I apologise for my rudeness but we cannot as we also have to flee the village right now. "

" Could you be able to provide her with a form of clothing. Due to being drenched in rain we had to remove them in order to prevent her from getting ill. "

" That can be arranged. " The Elder replied.

( 30 minutes later )

RCT 3 along with recently arrived RCT 1 were helping in the evacuation of the village.

Itami with Arran's help was even able to convince base command to help to escort the villagers until they reach a safer location.

A large convoy of carts formed up inside and was going outside the village walls. Out of the convoy came Itami and Arran along with Lt. Takeo Shinji commander of RCT 1 and his international team counterpart Lt. Fuller from USMC.

" We don't have enough men and vehicles to protect this many people. " Arran complained.

" We have to make do what we have right now," Fuller said.

" Reinforcements are still being prepped at the base, but will not be able to reinforce us for a while. Only good news we have right now is that helicopter gunships are on standby, anything happens and we will be having air support in few minutes."

" I suggest we will having our Marder IFV along with the convoy to ward off any possible attack from the rear. Your LAV ( USMC) has more firepower than our IFV so it should take lead as vanguard and discourage any possible threats from engaging the convoy. " Arran suggested.

" Well, I agree with him," Shinji said.

" The LAV will go forward along with my Marines, we will act as your vanguard. Shinji's men will join you in escorting and protecting these refugees. The trucks will be moving on the side of the column with Itami's HMV ready to intervene at any moment. "

" Any questions ?" Fuller asked.

There was a brief silence.

"Ok then let's head back to our posts and form up."

A few meters away Cato was riding on his cart filled with his belongings most of which were only books. He took a long glance at the men with strange green clothes he met today. They conversing about something, but due to this crowd, he was unable to hear a single word properly.

" Hey, Percival," Cato called to the village Elder.

" Yes, Sage Cato. What can I do for you? "

" Can you tell me something about those strange soldiers out there."

" We don't know much about them sage Cato. They came to visit our village yesterday. They asked a few questions and directions before heading out towards our neighbouring village. "

Percival continued. " They might be some mercenary group."

" I highly doubt that, the way they work they are definitely soldiers, not a ragtag mercenary group. "

The convoy of carts begun to move slowly " I have to take my leave now. " Percival said before returning back to his cart.

A few moments later Cato passed through those strange horseless carriages these strange men were using as their mode of transport. ' Must be steel forged by a master blacksmith and evened coloured it too.' he thought.

Special Region, Three hours later.

" The landscape is changing. We are entering a rocky and arid area." Itami noted.

" Heat is getting unbearable," Kurata complained wiping his sweat from his forehead.

" Yeah, the condition of the convoy is also deteriorating," Itami said.

For the last hour, the journey was taking the toll on the refugees. Overloading their carts of all their belonging in order to escape came to bite many of them as their carts broke down on the way.

Though UN troops tried their best to help them, their help wasn't enough. Slowly one by one people began to drop out of the convoy as they were unable to move any further. It was really a painful sight for many UNTF men and their helplessness to do anything for them.

Itami looks backs to the rear of his HMV " How is she doing? "

" She is fine, " says Kurokawa as she hands a Snickers baton to Elvira sitting beside her.

The girl slowly ate the sweet chocolate.

" What was her name you mentioned before? "

"It is Elvira. "

" Anything else do we know about her? "

" She doesn't want to talk anything about what happened in her village and also must urge not to ask anything about her village right now. " Kurokawa states.

" I understand. "

Suddenly the radio crackled to life.

" RCT 3 actual this is RCT 3-7 we are detecting unknown flying bogeys flying towards us very fast please advise, over. "

Itami sticks his head out through his HMV window and looks through his Binoculars. To his absolute horror, there were nearly 40 to 50 dragons were flying towards them.

" This is RCT 3 actual to all elements we have hostile bogeys flying fast towards the convoy. prepare for combat I repeat prepare for combat. "

RCT 1's JSDF vehicles took a quick turn and drove head-on towards the oncoming dragon knights.

" All units engage, nail those bastards," Shinji ordered. " Don't let them get near the refugees."

RCT 1 engaged the Imperial fists with their guns blazing and took a few of them down from the sky with 50 cal. machine gun fire from their Komatsu LAV and rifle fire from their trucks. Though facing some losses the dragons flew past them towards the convoy.

The villagers began to panic and flee for their lives as the Imperial fist dragons begun to descend upon them.

Kalb's Marder begun to fire at the oncoming dragons with its MK 20 Rh 202 autocannon cutting them down. But it was not enough to stop the knights from attacking the villagers. The dragons used their fire breath to burn many poor souls. Their riders used their different magical attacks and musket fire to attack the villagers and the UNTF troops on the ground.

" Crap they have mages. " Arran yelled.

" Where our air support? "

" They are on the way ETA 15 minutes. " James reported.

" We don't have that much time. "

" Arran, this is Itami go and support RCT 1 one of their vehicles has taken a direct hit and had been overturned. They have sustained casualties and are requesting support. over "

" How the hell that happened? "

" Stop asking questions, they need our support right now, go and help them. "

" Roger that. Moving out."

Itami turned back and ordered " Kurokawa take the girl and go with the convoy. I want you to be escorting them to safety. "

" But sir... "

" That's an order Sgt. "

Kurokawa dismounted from Itami's HMV followed closely by Elvira and entered the Type 73 light truck waiting for them. Their place was replaced by Kuribayashi, Tomita and Higara as they entered the HMV.

Kalb's Marder kept on advancing and firing gunning down numbers of dragon knights from the sky followed by Arran's humvee which 50 cal. machine gun kept the dragons knights away.

Quickly they arrived at RCT 1 location and formed a perimeter around it. A few moments later Fuller's marines and LAV joined the fray.

" What the hell happened here? " Fuller asked while firing his M4 towards the flying dragons.

" A dragon rammed more like crashed into one my truck after it was shot down."

"Casualties? "

" Some broken bones and minor injuries. Already radioed for MEDEVAC chopper it will arrive with air support we have requested.

UN forces formed a defensive square around themselves. The attacking forces also diverted their attention from attacking the fleeing villagers to the immediate obstruction to their operation. Heavy casualties were being inflicted on the imperial fist force but UNTF was also not left out of its share of losses.

" Reloading. " James yelled as he reloaded 50 cal. machine gun.

Noticing a gap in UN lines a dragon descended from the sky. Till now Imperial fist riders were trying their best from not getting shot down from the sky by ferocious fire they were facing from UN troops.

"Incoming! " A JSDF trooper yelled training his gun and firing at the oncoming knight.

" Get out of there," Fuller warned, but it was too late. The dragon's fire breadth engulfed him.

" Ahhhhhhhh... "

Before anything could have done he was killed by a grenade explosion which he had on him.

" Man down. "

" Bastards. " Shinji cursed firing his rifle

As they held the Imperial fist attack and inflicted heavy losses letting the villagers escape. The Fists divided into two groups, the larger group kept on engaging UN Troops while a small group began following the fleeing villagers.

Cato watched the battle unfold as he drove his cart to a safer distance. He was surprised to see these unknown men were able to withstand those dragon knights attack and were even inflicting heavy loses on them. Nearly have of the knights had already fallen.

He could hear the sound of screeching dragons in pain as they fell on the ground shot by those strange metal carriages.

" Don't, stop keep moving. " one of those soldiers yelled in native tongue who and few others had stayed behind to act as their escorts.

" Incoming." one of them shouted in albionish firing his strange musket towards a group of four dragon knights flying towards them.

Other soldiers joined him and shot down three of the four knights from their dragons with precision rifle fire. The fourth was able to fly past them. The rider suddenly jumped from it dragon and landed right in front of few villagers blocking their path. He drew his wand and begun to attack them with magical attacks.

A few of them were cut down by his relentless fire magic.

The knight looked over his shoulder to see a man and a boy trying to get a woman on her feet.

" Melissa, get up Melissa we have to run. "

" Get up mama."

" No use, my legs won't move. "

' Ohh those filthy commoners are trying to run, pathetic ' he pointed his wand towards them and send a wave to fire balls at them.

As fireballs were about to a hit a family they were countered by Cato's water blast.

" Who dares to counter me? "

Cato slowly walks between the family and the knight.

" You are my opponent. I will not let you harm these people " Cato challenged the knight.

" And who the hell are you water mage, a fallen noble. You dare to challenge a member of the Empire's elite Imperial fist. "

" Why are you attacking your own people.?"

" by the order of our emperor, I am bound to purge the commoners and burn their villages and fields to the ground. This is a small sacrifice for the survival of Germania. I advise you old man get out of my way. Though you are a former noble I have no orders to kill a mage. If you stay in my way then by the grace of founder I will make you pay.

" You don't know what this old man can do ." Cato snapped before sending a wave of magical attacks.

Both the mages one a fire mage and another water began to fight their ferocious duel against each other and no one even the escorting soldiers dared to interrupt them. They passed by them while escorting the refugees towards safety.

Back at Itami's position, their forces have started to suffer casualties. Muskets weren't the most accurate firearm to ever be invented in history but sometimes they tend to have luck on their side. Some of the musket fire marked their targets though modern body armour was enough to stop them, Some casualties were sustained. Though inflicting heavy losses the imperial fists didn't falter or flag and kept up their attack.

" Damn those guys just changed their attack pattern," Arran said

" They are adapting. " Itami stated

" There too many, we can't hold them much longer."

A group of dragons dived for an attack run.

" Here they come again," Fuller said aiming his rifle

All the guns were trained on the diving dragons and fired. Those dragons were as expected were torn apart. But something unexpected happened, their riders used their dead dragons as shields and landed right between the perimeter created by UN Troops.

" They are inside our defences."

The five fists inside the perimeter drew their swords and charged firing their flintlock pistols at unexpected targets.

" Shift fire Shift fir... uhhhh. " Fuller was hit by a musket ball that tore through his unprotected neck. He fell on the ground choking by his own blood.

" Man down, Man down. "

" Turn those bastards into Swiss cheese," Arran screamed in anger

Troops quickly shifted their fire at the enemy landed inside their perimeter and took four out of five. The fifth one kept up his charge at the nearest soldier.

This misfortunate guy was being Pvt. Higashi Higara. As his attacker drew near his gun jammed.

" Oh f*ck."

The knight swings his sword at him which he blocked it by his rifle. The knight raised his sword to strike again but this time Higara dodged his attack and drew his sidearm and fired at his attacker, only to his surprise his 9mm rounds bounced up his armour.

" The hell. " He cursed as he kept on firing until his pistol run dry.

The Knight stood there un flinched by this prepared to strike again, this time was cut down by 50 cal. machine gun fire from the Humvee.

" Hey bro you alright," Carter asked

" I am fine," Higashi replied.

" Did you see that, that guy just shrugged off 9mm rounds like they were nothing," James said

" They are not that primitive we had thought of them before. '

" yeah man," Carter said.

" They are preparing for another pass" A marine warned pointing towards another group of dragons diving towards them.

Suddenly one of the dragons was hit from an air to air missile and burst into flames. Others broke their formation.

Itami looked towards the source of the attack to see their long-awaited reinforcement has finally arrived.

" The cavalry has arrived. " Yells James raising is the rifle in the air in joy.

4 AH-1z Viper along with 3 AH-1S cobra attack helicopters flew past them gunning down dragon Knights from the sky Following them were 4 Super Hueys bringing additional reinforcements. The imperial fists riders were not prepared for air to air combat and were cut down by the helicopters. Some even tried to retreat but were chased and shot down from the sky.

Meanwhile, the duel between Cato and the Fist finally came to an end. The fist was mortally wounded by one of Cato's attack and lay on the ground in the pool of his own blood.

" Ohhh, It was refreshing," he said as he stretched his hands. " though I am getting too old for this." He took a good look at his opponent lifeless body which had been pierced by a long ice spike he used to defeat his opponent. "These men," he said to himself. " belongs to the Imperial Fists. "

" So that idiot brat finally did it. " he cursed. " Sending Germania's elite force to purge the innocent for nothing. Scorch earth can only to be initiated by the approval of the war council and too should be conducted by local forces while protecting the commoners not killing them off. "

' Being an emperor doesn't mean he can do anything he wants without anyone's consent. I thought I taught you better how to become a good emperor, not a despotic tyrant you are becoming Albert. '

Wiping this thought out of his head Cato began his work healing injured individuals from the village he had called home after he renounced his Noble title and went into exile.

( 3 hours later)

The rest of the day was uneventful. The soldiers and villagers tended to their own and buried their dead. Two body bags were loaded to a MEDEVAC chopper going back to base. These two men were from RCT 1. A marine Lieutenant and a JSDF trooper, The Marine was killed by a stray musket round when it hit on his neck. JSDF trooper was killed when he was lit on fire by a Dragon's fire breath and one of his Grenade exploded. A few others were also injured during the battle.

A total casualty of the UNTF were 2 dead and 15 wounded from both RCT 1 and RCT 3. Nearly 145 villagers were dead. Whereas the villagers were buried their dead in a marked graves for their loved ones, the knights were all piled up in a mass grave. Their equipment mainly their armour which taken off back to the base for further research. Recovery trucks also arrived from the base to take the damaged and immobilised vehicles back to base.

The last of the choppers returned back to base taking their wounded and marine detachment with them. As the dust settles down the village chief approached Itami. " Thank you, oh noble warriors, Thank you for saving us. How can we repay you. ?

" You don't have to repay us. We just did our duty. "

" No no, let us pay you something, you not only defended us but shed your own blood for the commoner folk. "

" Again, You don't have to repay us, you need everything you have for your own right now."

" You are very kind."

" So what will happen to those lost their relatives in the fight? I mean, where will the orphans go ?. "

" We will entrust them to the god. "

" What !, you cannot do that. That's not right."

Hearing Itami's outburst Arran came running to see what was happening.

" Hey man, calm down. care to explain what just happened? "

Itami explained to Arran the present situation.

" Sir, you must have a reasonable reason to abandon these children out of nowhere," Arran asked

Percival lowered his head and spoke. " I'm afraid we can barely take barely take care of ourselves. We can go to our friends in other towns and villages. They have no one left... "

" I see... Eh ok, sir, we will take care of them, you should go prepare the convoy to move, then we will accompany you. "

" There is no need for it anymore. We are almost there. In half a day or so we will be in Italica the provincial capital and we will be safe there. We will spread the word of your bravery and feats today. You will always have our uttermost gratitude. "

An hour or so later the convoy was on the move again minus their escort. They waved their saviours' goodbye and went on.

" Elder Percival, weren't they bit generous towards us ?" one of the villagers asked.

" Yes, they were. Their leader even wanted to accompany us until we reach Italica, but I declined. They had already taken their fair share of losses and even took out those dragon knights. So we will be safe even without their escort."

" Who were they Elder. ? "

" All I know that they were soldiers and what sage Cato had observed they weren't part of any army from the kingdoms. That's the reason why he decided to be left behind in order to observe them. "

" You promised to spread the word of their bravery, didn't you Percival? " Another villager same of his age asked.

" Yes, Why do you ask. "

" Did you asked them what their army was called. "

" Ohhh... I did forget to ask them what their army is called. "

" Still clumsy as you were before Percival. " the villager remarked.

" We should call them Green guardians grandpa. " A boy ten years of age said.

Percival thought for a while ' They did wear green uniforms, though some of them were in different patterns their uniform was green.'

" Son you are right, Green Guardians we shall name them then. " All others nodded their head in approval.

( 4 hours later )

Commander Noldid was not just angry but absolutely furious he just found out that half of his force was wiped out in a battle. This was the first ever setback faced by the Imperial fist.

Their present target today was the Coda village, which had a much smaller population compared to the previous one they sacked a day before.

That's the reason why he sent half of his force commanded by his incompetent second his command who was clumsy enough to lose the Imperial decree during the last purge.

Though he expected that piece of paper to be burned along with the village he was wrong. A messenger arrived bringing the news the Coda village was empty. Their strike force was unable to find a single living soul in the village. Somehow the news of this village destruction along with the decree was found out by those villagers and decided to flee for their lives.

His Second in command decided to give chase.

That was the last that he heard from him. So he decided to take matters into his own hand and followed the dirt road they the villagers presumably had taken.

After flying for awhile he along with rest of his force arrived at a location that looked like a ferocious battle has taken place. Bodies and remains of dead dragons lying everywhere. From close examination, their bodies were virtually destroyed. They also found strange copper casing lying everywhere and strange vehicular tracks all around the area.

" Sire." a soldier approached him. " we found the graves of our men up on that hill. "

" Lead the way soldier." He ordered.

A few paces later he arrived at the spot. The grave was marked by a sword struck on the ground with a imperial fist helmet on it.

" Whoever slaughtered half of our men had some decency in burying them and marking their graves for us to find them. " A fist commented.

" Sire, should we exhume the bodies? "

" There's no need. Our men have already rested for peace, so no need to discrete their graves anymore. "

" Sire what about the villagers. " One of his men asked.

" they might already have reached Italica by now, so we can't nothing about them right now. Ok, men, we will be returning back to base for today," he ordered.

As ordered by their commander they mounted their dragons and headed back to their base.

" When I will find people those who inflicted the first ever crushing defeat to the fists I am going to make them pay for this humiliation, " he said to himself.

* * *

 _Now people who would be going to flames at me not adding Rory and Lelei. I want to clarify this that, I tried my best but there is no way a person in the whole of Halkeginia who is a loli and also has the power of regeneration and wields a large axe which weighs a ton and lived a nearly 900 years. So sorry she had to be removed from the story as a whole. But something can be done about Lelei's situation though, she will be appearing as a noble ( she can do magic duh ! ). he character is also to be overhauled so it might take a little time for her character to appear._

 _Don't forget to review_

 _Stay tuned for next chapter: Back to base and Problems of a Kingdom._


	8. 7 Back to Base and Problems of a Kingdom

**Ch- 7 Back to Base and Problems of a Kingdom.**

Special Region, on the road to Fort Endurance.

The sun was shining upon the hills and the road; the breeze created by the wind blowing west relieved the sensation of heat. It had already been two hours since RCT 1 and 3 broke camp and begun their journey back towards Alnus hill. The leading vehicle of this convoy Itami's HMV was filled with the refugees and their belongings. Followed by the light truck with same load out. JSDF troopers from RCT 3 rode in the LAV and in the troop compartment of Kalb's IFV. RCT 1 closely followed behind them.

"Mister Soldier. " A boy hardly 10 years old asks." Are we there yet? "

"We will soon be. Do not worry hot meal and a new home is waiting for you." Itami replied back with a smile.

"Well, this is the seventh time this kid asked I presume."

"Yeah, and Kurata please concentrate on driving. These roads are awful and I don't want to face a accident right now "

" Don't worry Lt. this baby is in right hands."

After nearly one hour of journey the sight of fort Endurance or Alnus hill according to the locals came into view.

"We are there already. That was fast" Cato muttered, surprised by the fact that the journey from Coda that would take nearly three days was over in a matter of hours.

'These horseless carriages these soldiers ride are really fast. What kind of magic they are using to run these things?' he thought.

In a distance, the hill of Alnus appeared. Last time Cato saw the hill was when he was searching for medical herbs. 'Magic can't cure everything'. That was his motto when he was a teacher at the Germanian institute of magic, ages ago. This was really frowned upon by other nobles.

The top of the hill which was barren before now was a fortress. A massive fortress.

After a few minutes or so the group diverted on to a small road leading towards Alnus hill. For a small amount of the group advanced, but suddenly they stopped.

There was another group of soldiers blocking the road. The carriages were the same that they were riding on. But there was another one that stands out of the whole group. Larger than any other iron carriages Cato has seen till now. It had a long and thin snout on top of the vehicle, fixed to the part that could rotate.

The vehicle was parked next to a big sign, written in Germanian language.

 **You are now entering territory controlled by United Nations Task Force.**

One thing was clear, they were at a military checkpoint and they had to prove themselves they are not dangerous or something worse might happen to them. The men manning the post opened the back door of the vehicle to check injured or not they were riding with them.

"They will just check your belongings for things those are not allowed. So don't be afraid and stay calm." Itami assured.

Slowly the checkpoint's soldiers checked through every bag and pouch the villagers had with them, taking away anything considered dangerous like knives and daggers.

Cato exited the vehicle he was riding on and walked towards another vehicle of the convoy carrying his personal belongings.

Before beginning their journey back the commander of this convoy decided to ditch his precious books as he considered them unnecessary and a waste of space. He tried to reason with him, explained him the significance of those books containing the history, society and religion of this land.

The man's expression was indifferent until he used the word magic.

When he began explaining about the books on different forms of magic he readily agreed to provide one of his transport to take them back to their base and even asked him to meet his commanding officer and explain him about magic and society of this land.

After checking through all his belonging one of those soldiers to his surprise spoke in Alboinish to another.

"It's clear. Let them pass."

Cato thought to ask the soldier how does he know this language only to interrupted by one of the villagers calling him to get back as they were about to leave. Cato went back and joined the rest of refugees.

When the convoy restarted, one of those men shouted in Germanian and waved at them as they pass by.

"Welcome to Fort Endurance."

( 30 Minutes Later )

The convoy finally arrived at the gates of the massive fortress. The sight of massive fortress impressed the refugees, the sight of the enormous wall was a display of power this unknown army posse. For safety reasons, refugees with no need for medical attention weren't allowed to enter the walls. Instead, they were diverted towards a small terrain at the border of the forest, right next to an accessible road constructed to make crossing the forest easier.

On the terrain, a group of JSDF troopers were setting up tents for the refugees. The day after, those tents were replaced prefabs or prefabricated homes, after the refugees were registered in UN Refugee database.

UNTF Fort Endurance, Special Region, August 21, 2019

11.45 am ( Earth Time)

Command Center, O'Brien office

Lt. Gen O'Brien leaned back in his chair. He held the present situation reports from the Ariel drone reconnaissance and SAR teams they sent to different affected villages in his hand. According to drone recon total, 8 villages were pillaged and destroyed by the Imperial army.

'This is not good' he thought 'If each village presumably had a population of five to six hundred then...there will be total 4500+ casualties. This is bad, really bad if the news about the total death toll reaches the other side, the media will chew us alive.'

As expected O'Brien was able to convince Hazama to withheld the total number of civilian casualties except for the ones those were sustained during the attack on RCT3 and RCT1 from the media outlets until they have dealt with the perpetrators i.e. remaining imperial forces in this area.

Suddenly he heard knocking on his door.

"Come in."

His aide enters the room. "Sir I have brought the documents you asked for."

After handing them to O'Brien his aide turns and leaves the room.

He slowly opens the file which contained the full report on the latest injection of troops and equipment that poured into UNTF camp.

Philippine expeditionary force or PEF is the Philippine military contingent sent to the special region.

Commanded by Derrick Pagiliban, The force is divided into two Brigades.

The 1st Mechanized infantry brigade commanded by Brig. Gen. Delos Santos, and the 2nd Marine Brigade by Brig. Gen. Nelson Dumapat respectively.

Due to limited space, the Philippine air force 34th air squadron had to wait for deployment until another airfield is constructed.

'Well, the Filipinos went overboard this time.' he thought. 'We asked them to sent a regiment worth infantry and equipment instead they decided to deploy not one but two brigades.'

Suddenly there is a knock at the door.

"Come in."

A man in Filipino army BDU enters the room.

O'Brien swiftly stands up to greet him.

Extending his hand he says " Derrick Pagliban I apologize for being unable to join the welcoming party along with Gen Hazama today morning.

Pagliban accepts O'Brien handshake and says. "You don't have to apologise, Gen. Hazama has already briefed me on the current situation that has arisen and you have taken command of the search and rescue operations."

"So what can I do for you right now ?"

"Well I came to make acquaintance with you, you are my commanding officer after all."

( Same time, Just outside Hazama's office.)

Cato stood outside the room of the commanding General of this outworldly army. Some time ago he was helping his fellow refugees in settling down in their new homes until one of the soldiers helping them informed him that he is being summoned by the commanding General of their fortress. A few moments later he was escorted to one those metal carriages.

After entering the fortress they drove him to right in front of a three storied building. After exiting the carriage he was escorted to the building front door where he was checked for anything dangerous. After passing through the examination he was asked to leave his staff at the check point. He was then escorted to the second floor where he was asked to wait as the general was meeting someone right now.

As he waited outside he heard some of the soldiers started to converse among themselves, to his surprise they spoke Albonish though a very different accent.

"Hey bro, how was today's training?"

"As usual, hard and boring, When the hell are we going to send on a combat operation."

"Don't know man, well did you hear those Recon guys from RCT 1 and 3 did?"

"Yeah, Yeah I know they were attacked by some dragon air force while they were some villages to safety."

"Those Imperial bastards, they slaughtered their own people, as according to them those civilians were considered expendable."

" Man, that's pretty messed up."

"That old man sitting in front Hazama's room is one of the refugees they brought back after the skirmish." giving a quick glance at Cato.

"He looks like Gandalf the Grey from LOTR."

"Yeah, just he is wearing blue instead of grey. His staff is also missing." Both the men chuckles.

"And who this Gandalf be son?"

Both the men froze, even Cato's escorting soldier looked at him with a surprised expression.

"You can understand us."

"Yes, why not you were talking in simple Albonish though your ascent is totally different. I can understand you without a hitch. Would you mind explaining to me who is Gandalf person is? is he a mage like me?

Before they could reply the door of the general opens up and a man in green uniform exits the room.

"What is this commotion about ?" he asks in an authoritative tone as he closes the door behind.

" Sir, we were just having a constructive chat with one our guests." slowly pointing towards Cato who was still seated on the chair provided to him.

"What is that constructive talk you were having ?"

"Basically they were stunned to know I could speak Albonish," Cato said calmly

This time it was Minoso's time to be surprised.

Standing up Cato walks past Minoso like nothing happened and entered Hazama's room.

( Inside Hazama's Office )

Hazama could hear all the commotion going on outside the room.

"Col. Minoso really have a loud mouth," he said to himself as he could hear him yelling at his marines just outside the room.

Whatever that was happening outside his room came to an abrupt end as the door slowly opened and an old man in blue wizard clothes along with a pointed hat.

'This person looks like one of those Hollywood movie characters I saw with my grandson during my last leave.' Hazama thought.

Hazama stands up from his seat to greet the old man.

"Master Cato I presume," Hazama said in his rudimentary Germanian extending his hand for a handshake with a smile. "Myself General Hazama, commanding officer of the United Nations Taskforce."

Cato didn't accept his handshake instead bowed his head before the general and said."Oh Lord General It's an honour to meet the commander of this formidable army. I also thank you for accepting us commoners into your care and I humbly apologise for any inconvenience we are creating for you."

Hazama was surprised to hear Cato speaking English.

"Mr Cato aren't you a Noble yourself, according to your social norms any person able to do magic is eligible for the title as a noble."

"I renounced my title ages ago, now I am just a commoner."

"Mr Cato you don't have to bow before me. I am a common man like you too" Hazama replied.

"But I have to lord general." Cato returns back to his composure."You hold the rank of a general and command this formidable army that makes you a noble."

Hazama signals his translator to leave.

"Mr Cato please take a seat."

As instructed Cato took the seat right in front of Hazama table.

Taking a sip of water from his glass of water Hazama began."Mr Cato, I want to clarify you one thing, I am no Noble of any kind. I acquired this position by my own hard work and dedication to my country. I am not put in the position of General because I belong to a noble family, I worked through the ranks to get here. In our world, the system of Nobility has already ended ages ago so please don't address me as Lord or something like that."

Cato was astonished by this revelation, Infront of him was a man who not of noble birth but still holds the rank of a General. More so according to him in his world, the system of nobility is just history.

"What about magic?"

"We do not have magic."

"What! How can that be possible, I have seen and even rode in one of your iron carriages. They clearly run without the use of horses and even are lot faster than any horse I rode in my life before. You have large metal constructs those could move on their own and iron dragons that fly in the sky, and even possess magical muskets those have the ability to fire innumerable musket ball without the need to reload."

Hazama notices the bewilderment in Cato's eyes.

"Well, Mr Cato they are the marvels of Modern science and technology."

"What do you mean by that General Sir ?"

"I will be frank, you level of technology magic, like your muskets, cannons are far more inferior than the ones we use. You society heavily relies on magic so the technological development has been left stagnant or have been slowed to a snail speed. Unlike your world, ours reliance is fully on science and technology as we do not have any form of magic."

Cato took some time to digest this information.

"So now to the reason I summoned you to my office. Mr Cato, I want you to help us better understand the different types of magic used in your world."

"You world is devoid of magic and your weapons are far more superior than anything we have in our arsenal. Why do you need the knowledge of our magic?"

"You may be right but still the full power of magic is unknown to us and we like to know more. Nearly four months ago the Imperial army with the help of magic created the gate at the centre of this hill and invaded our world. They killed many without remorse and kidnapped many of our citizens. When our military counterattacked, The Imperials were able to stall our advance for two and a half days before being overwhelmed. It was due to their impressive use of magic in urban warfare. So in order to not meet any unsuspecting surprises when we begin combat operations in near future, I want you to educate my top commanders and officers about the different kinds of magical attacks that can be used against us."

"I have to think about it," Cato replies.

"No problem Mr Cato, I give you a day to think about my proposition."

"If I refuse to accept ?" Cato asked obviously of the consequences that he along with other refugees might be driven out of their temporary lodging if he refused to help them.

"It is your personal decision Mr Cato, I am not going to force you to cooperate with us. I am well aware that if you help us understand the ways of magic then you are basically committing treason against your nation, and do not worry even if you refuse we are not going to drive you out of the camps we created for you. You along with other refugees are still under our protection and it is our duty to serve and protect the innocent."

'This man looked right through me' Cato thought.

"It is a very chivalrous of you," Cato replies getting up from his seat to leave.

"One thing Mr Cato would you enlighten me how could you speak English so fluently."

"English ?, you mean Albonish, when I was a young kid I was educated to learn all the Halkeganian languages. For being a Noble we are bound to know at least two foreign languages for better communication among ourselves."

"And what is this English language, is it similar to Albonish ?"

Hazama nodded and replied. "It is somehow totally similar to Albonish of yours."

Knowing this that Albonish and English are similar the excitement to know what is like on the other side of the Gate grew tenfold inside Cato's head, but he was able to mask those feeling in front of Hazama.

"So General" Bowing before Hazama."I beg to take my leave." he moves on opening the door and exits the room.

10:30 PM ( Earth Time ), Refugee Camp.

Cato sat in the open in the centre of the camp alone deeply engrossed in his thought. What answer he would give to General Hazama proposition tomorrow. All other villagers had already gone to sleep leaving him alone with his thoughts.

'These people have provided us everything we need without a hitch. From food to shelter and even a bath. They haven't imposed any demands on us yet.' he said to himself.

Except for the knowledge of magic personally from him, though they say it is voluntary. Cato was in a dilemma he was in a tight spot, he wanted to repay the debt he owed to this army but if he helps them he was committing treason. Though the same tried to kill him two days ago, he was still loyal to Germania nation in his heart but was not to the present Emperor and his ways at all.

His respect and loyalty for Emperor Albert have rapidly declined after he came to know what his soldiers were doing to their own people by his orders. They are staining the name of the empire in the blood of the innocent. But still he cared for him, he was his master after all and all those years of teaching him the ways of water element had created a bond between them.

Albert is the one and only son of the late emperor Haringoth II. Due to being the only son among two daughters in the royal family meant he got all the attention from his parents making him a spoilt brat at his early age. Being the eldest he was destined to be the heir to the throne after his father. For that reason to get his son back to his senses and to become a responsible person, Haringoth personally asked Cato to educate his son.

Cato then was a master in the Germanian school of magic and ways he taught his students impressed emperor Haringoth.

Cato by his strict education and moral studies was able to make the spoilt brat into a responsible prince. When prince reached the age of 16 he had already mastered the water element and was a triangle mage at the young age. Cato has presented a position in the court and a fief of his own which he gladly accepted it.

But fate was hard on young Albert. After he was announced as the crown prince his beloved mother passed away due to a sudden illness. Not long after his father was struck by depression due to loss of his beloved wife and the situation of the empire begun to deteriorate. At that very moment, Albert took the reins of the empire and took over his father's duty as the crown prince. Cato stayed by Albert's side as his advisor until emperor returned back to his throne.

But emperor never returned two days later while he was on the place gardens he was assassinated by one of his own guards affiliated to the western noble faction that started an uprising in order to overthrow the emperor. This hit really hard to the crown prince now Emperor Albert. His parents were dead leaving him behind along with his younger sisters, Princess Adalicia (10) and Princess Bertina (13) and this vast empire in his care.

His first course of action as the emperor was to crush the western Nobles rebellion and he did with his utmost brutality, burning the aligned towns and villages to the ground and taking no prisoners. When Cato objected his brutal ways Albert just replied. "I am just doing this for the good of the empire."

After returning from the campaign, which was over within three months Cato decided to renounce his position as the advisor and a noble after everything he witnessed during the campaign and went into exile living his life a quiet life with the Coda villagers. Albert ruled all over Germania as his father did with the help of the council If he had wanted he could have abolished the council during the rebellions but he didn't instead he followed his father footsteps as a responsible ruler for a while though.

With the beginning of this new war against an out, worldly force empire is losing and Albert is turning to his sadistic ways in order to achieve his goals again. If he is not stopped and brought back to his senses and the gravity of the situation they are in right now by invading another world without provocation he has doomed Germania.

The nobles have also lost their ways after Emperor Haringoth's death and have been misusing their power to a far greater extent. Albert also patronised the ones that stayed loyal to him and gave them autonomous power in their own fiefs. Only a few remained who performed their duties as a noble without a hitch. Corruption run rampant, the slave situation has deteriorated, people are living in misery and the worries of commoners are neglected by many. The Nobility is eating away the nation inside out and this has to be changed.

"It is decided then, I will help them in understanding magic and change this kingdom for the betterment of her people," Cato said to himself with determination.

09:45 AM (Earth time, next day)

Hazama's office.

Hazama hears a knock on his door.

"Come in"

The door opens and Cato enters the room.

Hazama stands up to greet him with a smile on his face. "Good morning Mr Cato."

"A very good morning to you also Lord General," Cato replies bowing before Hazama. " I accept your proposition to help you understand magic."

"That's great."

"But Lord General I need you to fulfil some of my demands before I begin."

"Those are ?"

"First, in return for my magical knowledge I want to know about your world, It's history, your Kingdoms, technology, everything. Secondly, I am not going to fight this war for you except in self-defence."

"Hmmm, alright granted. You will be provided with the brief history of our world. Though for security reasons weapons are off limits. About the second demand, well we don't need you to fight in our war, you are a non-combatant in our eyes. So even if you want we are not going to allow a civilian to fight."

"Very well." Cato stands up and bows before Hazama.

"Mr Cato" Hazama stands up and leaves his seat. "you do not have to bow before me."

" But you are..." Hazama raises his hand.

"Consider me as your friend not a noble." Hazama extends his hand for a handshake.

Cato looks in confusion.

" You have to grasp my hand. It is our way of greet."

Cato slowly holds his hand and shakes it.

"General, do you need those dragon corpses those are lying on the field outside your fort ?"

"Our men only use them as target practice. Why do you ask."

"Well, the dragon scales fetch a high price in the market."

"Hmmm, you can have them, I will order my men to leave those corpses alone."

Halkegania, Kingdom of Tristain, Royal Palace.

Henrietta stood on her palace's balcony grazing upon her capital city. The economic situation in the city is still practically better than the rest of the kingdom. The far you travel from Tristania the condition gradually degrades. The worst hit areas were the border provinces.

She hears a slight knock at her door.

"Come in."

Henrietta personal enters the room.

"Your Highness" she bows " The delegates for the meeting have arrived."

"Very well, you may leave now."

The maid exits the room.

A few minutes later Henrietta fully adorned in her royal dress leaves her bedroom and head straight to attend the meeting held for to contain the rapid decline in the Tristain economy after the war.

The Royal guards push the door open for Henrietta to enter the room where the meeting is being held.

All the Nobles and military officers present in the room got up from their seats in respect of their reigning monarch.

Henrietta takes her seat and orders." Please, Gentlemen, take your seats."

As ordered the Nobles took their seats.

"You highness, something has to be done for this economic depression we are facing right now. Due to your generous offerings from the royal treasury, the capital is still safe from the clutches of the depression, but I can't guarantee for how much longer we will be able to hold ourselves together." The financial minister points out.

"So," she said calmly "What solutions you all suggest ?"

"Well, your highness I have a few." Duke de La Vallière spoke up.

"Enlighten me."

" Firstly your highness, we can double the amount of tax being paid right now by our citizens, Nobles included. In this way according to our esteemed Finance minister's calculations, we will be able to control the depression within a year."

Finance minister along with other supportive nobles nodded in approval.

" But Duke La Vallière the tax have already being raised after the war." Henrietta objects.

"I know your majesty but at present level of tax being collected is going to take nearly two years just only to contain our present condition."

The room goes silent for a minute.

" The second option we have is to take loans from Gallia and Germania."

" We already are in heavy debt from taking loans from them I doubt they would give us more until the previous ones are being paid back with interest." a noble points out.

"Some of us including her highness has already auctioned our belongings to pay back their debt."

True to his word several beautiful furnitures from the royal household has already been sent to be auctioned in neighbouring kingdoms to raise funds for the repayment of the debts.

"Acquiring more loans from any other kingdom is not an option for us right now until the present ones are being paid back we have to refrain from taking any more loans," Henrietta said. She very well knew what will happen if the loans are not paid back in time. Germania and Gallia might suggest territorial concession from Tristain as a repayment for the debt. But until she is on the throne she is not going to give an inch of Tristain land.

"Your Highness this is our final option. We can sell the land we have under our control in Albion." Duke de La Vallière suggested.

" Duke one-third of our revenue and food grain is coming from Albion, losing those fertile lands will only harm us in long run." another Noble said. "We are ill-afford to lose those lands right now."

The debate and discussions went for more two hours to come.

At last finally, the decision was made to raise the taxes and also too cute the defence budget into half much to the displeasure of Militaristic nobles and generals. This meant the standing army which was maintained by Tristain from the beginning of Reconquista uprising to the counter-invasion of Albion was to be downsized into a small security force. Now the overall defence of the kingdom is returned back to the volunteer militia in different fiefs and provinces.

As the meeting came to an end Henrietta rose from her seat to leave. As she walked back to her room she came across her mother. Noticing her child's worried face she asked.

"Henrietta my dear you look worried."

"Mother," she said. "After consulting with our ministers and Nobility it is decided that the Taxes have to be doubled. According to the finance minister, we will be able to stop the economic depression within a year."

"Then you should rejoice not look sad. We will be finally able to bring Tristain back to its feet."

"Yes Mother I should, but I don't know why I am having a bad feeling about this."

( Four Days later)

In a remote village near the border of Germania. A large group of peasants were gathering in protest for the recent rise of the taxes. The border provinces were the worst hit in the economic depression. The prices of the food commodities were sky high, making it harder and harder for the poor commoners to acquire food for their basic need. With the recent price hike, many knew if the prices are not controlled they are going to starve to death.

The large crowd of peasants, artisans and commoners from different occupational background gathered in front of their count's mansion.

Predicting this kind of gathering might happen, the count had already ordered the Mansion's outer wall gates be closed and posted his mercenary sentries all over the wall.

"Go back to your homes." The mercenary captain shouted from over the wall.

An old frail man came out from the crowd supported by a walking stick and said.

"I am the chief of this village. We are here to discuss the recent rise of taxes with our count today."

"The count is busy today. He orders you lot to come later."

"Please, our children will starve. We just need to talk to the Count that's all."

The mercenary captain took pity on the villagers. he could somehow relate the present condition of the villagers to him, they were commoners like him after all.

" Okay, Okay calm down people, I will see what I can do for you," he said.

He turned to one of his men. "Go fetch the Count and say that his people need him right now.

As ordered the guard ran into the mansion.

A few minutes later, the count arrived fuming in anger for being disturbed while having his Lunch.

" What is it, captain I said I don't want to be disturbed today."

"My lord, your subjects are asking for you to present their grievances on the recent rise of taxes."

" What?" he sighs." okay I will hear them out."

The Count gets up on the wall. As the villagers murmured among themselves what kind of reaction they are going to get until someone notices his arrival. "Count Clovis has arrived."

"So what problems do you commoners have right now ?"

" My Lord please hear us out. Our fief is the most impoverished region in all over the kingdom. We do not have the capacity to pay the taxes anymore."

Several others villagers raised their voice along with their village elder to make understand their Count about their deplorable condition.

Clovis heard what his subjects with a boring expression on his face. The mercenary captain stood beside him and could full well understand his employer was thinking by the bored facial expression Count Clovis had on his face.

Clovis raised his hand to stop the rambling of the commoners down below.

"Alright, I have heard you, commoners, enough. The orders to raise the tax have come directly from royal court, nothing can be done about that pay your taxes I don't care how just pay it. You people are not the only ones paying, we nobles are also bound to pay the taxes imposed on us."

"Please my lord we ar..." Clovis raised his hand and said.

"I have a proposition for you. I will pay off your taxes but in return, I want you all to handover your lands to me and become my serfs for life."

This offer shocked the Village chief. "My Lord please try to reconsider."

"No, either you pay your taxes, or you hand over your land or do neither and be prepared to face consequences. Non- payment of taxes would be considered treason though, so be prepared." Clovis said with a smirk and turns to head back to his mansion.

The old man lowered his head in defeat. No way a commoner can stand against a noble, even if he has the support of the entire fief if they raise their voice against him they surely would be tried for treason and executed.

"We would have been better under Albion rule." Someone yelled from the back of the crowd.

Clovis stopped right in his tracks.

" Who said that ?" He yelled. "Come out right now or the whole village will be branded as traitors to the crown."

A Young man, not more than eighteen years old came forward and stood beside the village chief.

"You said that young man. You know what you did right now is treason."

"Yes I know and I will say it again we will be better off if we were under Reconquista control. They were rebelling against the useless monarchy of theirs. They promised equality and prosperity, unlike you fat leech who is constantly draining us to fill your own fat stomach of yours."

"Yes, we would have been better under Albion."

" Hear, hear."

Several other individuals mostly younger men joined him.

This act enraged Clovis to his boiling point. He brought his wand to bear and sent a lightning bolt at their de facto leader. The bolt hit right in the centre of his chest and knocked the young man out.

One of his men ran to check him and declared he is dead.

"This will happen to anyone who raises his voice against me and the crown."

Instead of running away some of the young men from the crowd picked up stones and started hurling them at the mercenary guards and Clovis in defiance.

By sheer luck or impressive accuracy, a piece of stone directly hit on Clovis' face. He tumbled on the ground holding his nose.

"Ahhhhhhh... Bastards I will make all of you pay. Captain order your men to open fire."

" But my lord, there are women and children in the crowd." The mercenary captain objected.

" I do not care, open fire and disperse the crowd. I want this area cleared by in ten minutes."

As ordered the mercenary guards aimed their muskets at the crowd below.

" Make ready."

"Present." The crowd began to panic and villagers tried to run.

The mercenary captain hesitated.

"What are you waiting for give the order," Clovis said.

" Fire."

The musket balls pierced through the unarmoured peasants like a knife through butter. Nearly five villagers lay on the ground dead in the pool of their own blood and several others were injured in the stampede that ensued after the firing. In total six including a woman were killed during the firing.

A few hours later the villagers returned back to retrieve the bodies of their dead. Along of sorrow for the dead, their hearts were filled with anger.

Several villagers grazed upon Clovis mansion in hate and anger. They were Angered by the negligence of the crown, angered for killing their own for voicing against unjust taxation. Long they have been oppressed by these nobles now their hearts craved for revenge.

The fief under Clovis was not the only one to be affected. Several other villages along the border faced the same kind of oppression when they tried to meet their Counts and Lords.

It was not long before several villagers banded together forming bandit and rebel groups and attack royal treasury convoys to fight back against the tax collection. With the populace totally against them, the Nobles had to use their own mercenary guards to capture and subdue those groups.

This action in return lowered the number of sentries they used to guard in some of their mansions and forts.

( 16 days after the incident.)

As usual, Clovis prepared to head to bed after his dinner. Today he was alone in his large mansion, well except his servants and guards. His wife had gone to her parent's home along with their children for a wedding celebration.

Clovis changed into his nightwear and got on to his bed to have a good night sleep.

In the middle of the night, he broke his slumber to have a glass of water, when suddenly he felt like someone was creeping into his room.

" Who goes there ?."

Suddenly he noticed five masked men standing in front of him.

Clovis tried to reach his wand only to find it missing.

" Guards, Guards."

"You summoned me, my Lord."

Clovis turned his head to see the mercenary captain standing beside his bed holding his wand in one hand and a bloodied sword in other.

"Thanks to the founder, captain quickly handover the wand to me."

"Oh, this." giving a quick glance at the wand. "I apologize, my lord, I can't."

He throws the wand out of the room through the window.

"You bastard, what are you doing."

" I did what I was ordered to by my new employer." He then turns to leave the room.

The five men quickly drew their knives and advanced to kill their prey.

"Captain don't leave me, save me, I will pay you..."

Captain closes the door of the room and leaves Clovis with his assassinators.

He slowly walks down the staircase and walks past bodies of 5 of his men those were loyal to Clovis and paid the price for their loyalty.

Arriving at the gates of the outer wall of the mansion he orders his men to open the gates. Past the gate villagers were waiting for him.

"Go have your revenge. Burn the mansion to the ground," he ordered to which they complied and rush past the gate.

He walked past the advancing mob and head towards the outskirts of the forest.

"Milady Sheffield," he said by bowing his head. "It is done."

"Very well." She said emerging from the forest . "here is your pay." She throws a large bag of gold coins which the captain catches.

"Go on and stay with the group. Your new task is to train these commoners and help them escalate this rebellion further deep into Tristain. Do not enter the fight unless in self-defence and also no one should know Gallia is involved in this."

"Yes, Milady I shall take extreme care not to leak this information."

Looking past his shoulder Sheffield saw the Clovis mansion began to go down in flames. She just had to provoke the childish minds of some commoner youths to instigate this uprising. As this was happening in Clovis fief she had already planted the seeds of discontent in several other border provinces. They just need a little push and motivation like this to explode in full-blown rebellion and destabilizing Tristain for Gallia to take over when the kingdom will be in a weakened state.

She cracked a smile on her face and said to herself. "The First Commoner uprising in Tristain has begun and the Plan for the annexation of Tristain with it.

Halkegania, Empire of Germania, Formar Province.

The town of Broravil is a small town situated just 30 leagues away from Italica. The town grew around the castle Broravil built as a deterrent for any foreign military advance deep into Imperial territory. It was built during the turbulent days of a small but brutal war fought between Gallia and Germania.

Gallia invaded Germania in order to gain control of the fertile lands of Formar province. The fort stood between them and Italica. The defenders held out until reinforcements arrived and drove back the Gallian army and counter-invaded Gallia.

Gallia sued for peace and paid a hefty repartition. This left a bad blood between the two kingdoms until recently the relation has been improved under emperor Albert's reign.

The castle was supposed to be heavily guarded but after the disaster of the Alnus hill, only a handful of soldiers left. Though the castle was undermanned a few soldiers were taking care of the law and order of the town.

At the outskirts of the town lay a rather famous inn and tavern ' The Drinking Master Inn.' Due to its close proximity to the highway, it attracted many travellers and other customers. Inside at a corner table, were Pina, Hamilton, Grey, Norma and Napoleon were having their dinner. Other customers stayed away from them as their ornamental armour and clothes clearly stood out in the bunch of town folks. Napoleon insisted on entering the town in disguise as they were on a recon mission, but Pina was against this. According to her "Her armour is the honour and dignity of a Noble." Napoleon could feel the hateful and hostile glances his group was receiving from several customers but due to their noble status and being pretty much armed to teeth, no one dared to approach them for a confrontation.

This was due to the spread of the news that several villages were purged and destroyed by the Imperial army under the order from the emperor. Many villages were targeted by the most infamous or famous according to your loyalty to Germania, the 'Imperial Fist' were the perpetrators of the slaughter of hundreds of innocent commoners.

When this news reached him he was shocked and horrified to know what the Germania emperor would go to protect his throne. But this didn't faze Pina at all. When Napoleon asked how she felt about the massacre of their own citizens. She replied it is a necessary evil the empire had to endure.

What shocked Pina the most was shocking news that followed was that the fists were defeated and pretty much annihilated by an unknown group of men in strange green clothes and armour and rode in magical iron carriages and wielded magical muskets which could fire innumerable musket balls.

"The news of what our army did is spreading like wildfire," Hamilton said.

"Do you believe mere commoner sellswords would face and survive against the Fists ?" Norma said while taking a bite of his meal.

" They must be a group of Fallen Nobles working as mercenaries," Hamilton replied.

"That's impossible. The fists are the strongest imperial unit and even nobles knights tend to stay away from them due to their both magical and martial might." Pina said.

"Don't forget to mention they had magical muskets that could five several musket rounds without a need to reload," Napoleon said as he took a sip of wine.

"impossible."

The waitress serving their meal butted in the conversation. "But it is true, noble knights! I was there. I am alive due to their bravery and sacrifice."

In an instant, the eyes of the Napoleon and Rose order knights fell on her.

"Err.. Sorry for disturbing your meal." She apologised and prepared to leave.

"Wait." Hamilton said." I believe you. Here, will you tell me what happened that day ?.

Hamilton handed her a silver coin. The waitress accepted it with a smile. "Thank you! Thank you! I will tell you everything that happened that day." she said loudly to attract everyone's attention in the Tavern.

"It was a few days ago when we first met them. They came to our village Coda to meet our elder in their horseless metal carriage. While during their stay their commander who also donned in the same attire as his men. Though their other men wearing different coloured clothing through their final composition was green. They asked direction to the next village and left."

"They only asked direction and left and nothing else. They didn't take your cattle or harvest with them ?" Norma asked.

"No, they demanded nothing from us. They were even generous to address our Elder as ' Sir ' every time their commander spoke to him. Though every time he spoke to our elder with the help of another man. Later our elder informed us they couldn't speak basic Germanaian properly and had to use a translator to do so."

" Oh, that's interesting. What happened next ?" Hamilton asked.

" Well, they returned next day bringing a very bad news. Our neighbouring village was destroyed, it was burned to the ground along with all its people. Well, not all a single girl survived the purge. They informed us that the imperial army had destroyed the village and our village was next to their target. We started to until. Sage Cato intervened and demanded to prove them.

"Sage Cato !, do you mean Lord Cato ?" Grey asked surprised to hear Cato's name.

"Ohh yes, though he hated to be addressed as a Lord he kept on insisting on being addressed as Master or Sage Cato."

" You know him, Grey ?" Pina asked

"He was one of my acquaintances during my service as an imperial guard captain in the palace."

"If your conversation is over, shall I continue ?"

" Oh please, you may. " Pina said.

" They showed him the imperial decree they recovered from the burning village. With this Sage Coda along with those men helped us organize the evacuation of the village. When on the way to Italica some of the carriages broke down and people began to fall out from our convoy. Those men tried their best and helping those in need and even going as far as giving space to some of our wounded and old in their carriages. I full well some of those men were carrying children on their back. When we were halfway through we were attacked by the imperial dragon corps flying high above in the sky.

One of those men ordered us to run as far as possible while their group split into two. one stayed behind to escort us to safety while the other advanced to fight the Knights head on. Though they tried hard some of those knights broke through and rained hell on us. Many of our people perished by the dragon's fire breath and magical attacks from the knights until they were shot down by our protectors who used their magical muskets to create a wall of steel between us and them. Their second group leaving 5 to 6 of their men behind head back into the fight to help their friends those were holding the bulk of dragon knights down letting us escape.

As we kept on running escorted one of their carriages my legs gave in. I couldn't move a bit. Some of the dragons knights those tried to attack us were gunned down by those men but one of them survived and started burning many poor souls through his fire magic before he turned his attention towards me and my family. I thought me and my family was done for until sage Cato intervened and entered a duel with that knight giving us enough time for my husband to pick me up and run for our lives. As we ran for our lives I could hear the ferocious battle between the dragon knights and our protectors going on. The sound of musket fire and large explosions could be heard as we took refuge a few leagues away.

After a few hours, one of our protectors who was a woman informed us the battle is over and we are asked to head back to help them in collecting our dead and wounded those were left behind as we ran for our lives.

After awhile when we arrived at the place of the battle took place. What I saw out there was unbelievable. The ground was littered with bodies of dragons and their riders beside them. Up close those knights were wearing full black armour. Iron dragons flew all over the place. Some of the villagers were scared but after being reassured those are on their side they calmed down. We gathered our dead and buried them on a nearby cliff. The dead knights were piled up on a mass grave. One of those men to mark the grave of those knights stuck a sword on their grave with a helmet on it. A few hours later we gathered the left of our belongings and moved on.

" Serves them right." One of the Tavern customers yelled

" yeah, those bastards found their match."

" Hear hear."

" Lady what those heroes were called ?" a man asked.

"Well our elder forgot to ask them what they were called, but I remember their carriages had something called UN painted on their doors. After discussing we came up with a name of our own and called them 'The Green Guardians' due to the uniform they wore."

" Toast in the name of the saviours of the Coda village and the destroyers of the dragon knights and imperial fists. To the Green guardians." he raised his glass in the air.

"To the green guardians." Others raised the glasses in the air.

"Everyone gets a free drink in the name of Green Guardians." The bartender declared.

To this, the whole Tavern erupted in thunderous applause.

The only group that didn't join them were the ones having their meal at the corner of the tavern.

Pina stood up from her seat. Placed the payment for their meal and turned to leave.

"Captain you haven't finished your meal yet," Norma said.

"We are leaving Norma, I have just lost my appetite." She replied with a death glare at him.

The Rose knights complied and began to walk towards the exit of the Tavern closely followed by Napoleon.

From what he had learned with his stay with Pina De Terre. She is the type of person who believes in the emperor and the empire. Watching the people celebrating the defeat of an elite Imperial army unit greatly offended her.

After leaving the Tavern they mounted their horses and rode back to the Broravil fort where the rest of the party had set up their camp.

Italica, Formar Mansion, Servant quarters.

Minami quickly rose from her bed, as she hears loud banging on her room's door. Rubbing her eyes she got out of her bed and unlocked it only to reveal the head maid standing outside with a frown on her face.

"Minami." she said, "You overslept again."

Bowing her head to apologize. " Sorry Miss Kaine but Countess asked me to stay by her side late at night as she was feeling lonely again."

"I understand, she had to go through a lot at this tender age. Okay, Minami, this is your last time, if you overslept again then you will be cleaning the stables for a week."

"I promise Miss Kaine this will be the last." She says with a smile.

She goes back to her room to get changed into her maid uniform. After being dressed up she looks around to see her school uniform hanging on the wall. This piece of cloth was connection she had to her own world. It has been nearly two months since she had been brought to this world of Magic and Fantasy.

She could clearly remember how she was on her way to her school through the Ginza district when this magical gate materialized right in front of her. She like other bystanders were curious to know how this massive structure materialized right in the middle of the road.

Suddenly a Dragon flew over her head and then several men in weird armour marched through the gate and began attacking the bystanders and onlookers without mercy.

She ran for her life but suddenly felt a strong armoured grabbing her by the waist and picked her up. She looked back to see a middle-aged man in that weird armour with a grin on his face was holding her. She struggled to escape but alas it was all in vain. She was literally dragged to in front of that gate where she saw a sight that still haunted in her sleep to this day. A large pile of bodies was piled up near the square and a flag was posted on them. She literally pucked on the spot.

Her captor dropped her and started to kick her for ruining his armour until she lost her consciousness.

A few hours later when she regained her consciousness she found herself inside a prisoner carriage and was surrounded by several other prisoners like her. She tried to move until she found out her hands were tied in shackles. She looked outside to see the scenery has already changed, instead of Tall buildings, cars and roads now there were only trees and hills.

"What happened, Where are we ?" She asked in panic.

"They threw you inside this carriage a few hours ago when you were still in unconscious condition." A woman said.

"We already of crossed through the gate of theirs and now we are in their territory."

"What is going to happen to us ?" she asked

" Most probably we are going to be sold into slavery." a man pointed out.

" But slavery is a crime."

"Young lady we are not in Japan anymore."

Minami scared of her fate in this new world began to cry silently.

She was consoled by the only woman in the group.

It was not until nearly day later the carriage came to a halt. The prisoners were allowed to leave their prison to stretch their legs for a while though were been being chained in their shackles to prevent them from escaping.

Minami looked around to see there were only 8 to 9 guards in total, they were armed with swords and spears. they were in the middle of a jungle and it was already growing dark.

Suddenly she felt like someone was watching her. She looked around to see one guard was keeping his eyes on her. She felt a little bit uneasy by this sight. As the night began to grow darker the prisoners were now being hoarded back into the carriage.

When Minami was about to enter the carriage she was pulled out from the line. She looked back to see the same man who was now looking at her in perverted eyes.

One of the guards asked him that in their own foreign language. Minami was unable to understand anything they were speaking.

But she quickly understands when he looked with an evil grin on his face. That man was planning to do something terrible to her. He began dragging her towards the forest.

"Nooo, please let me go. Help somebody help," she screamed but it was all in vain.

He quickly threw her on the ground and began to remove his armour.

Minami was sacred, so scared she couldn't move a muscle.

That man then pounced on his prey. Minami struggled to escape from his clutches. By the grace of God or sheer luck she kicked and hit right on his crotch and the dropped holding his main point.

Minami got up kicked that man on his head and moved on to pick up a stack of keys besides that man's removed armour.

Hearing their comrade in pain other guards rushed in. Minami ran deep into the forest, she kept on running until she was tired to move even an inch. She looked back to see if her pursuers were chasing her and glad to see there were none.

She had already stayed the whole day without food and very little water. She was too much tired to move though she tried to keep her eyes open, her exhaustion took the most of it and she fell fast asleep.

Minami slowly opened her eyes when she felt sun rays hitting her face. She slowly gets up and looks around to see she was in a carriage but not in a prison but in a comfortable one and right in front seated of her was a woman in maid uniform and was wearing glasses and was intensely looking at her.

Minami tried to move only to notice her hands were still chained in shackles. She looks around in search of the keys she stole from her captor last night.

She hears the ringing of a bunch of keys moving around to see those were in the women's possession.

The women spoke in a foreign language which again Minami was unable to understand.

Minami tried to talk back in Japanese only to find a confused expression on her face.

Minami tried to converse again but this time she tried pointing towards her and said. " Minami"

In return, she received the same expression she from the woman. " Kaine."

Minami pointed at the keys and then moved her hand in a way to make Kaine understand to release her from these shackles.

Kaine in return shook her head.

Minami was now confused, " What this woman want from me. Is she going to me sell me in some slave market ? " she thought to herself.

Her suspicion was well placed she looked out through the window to see they had now entered into an urban area. She wanted to escape but the exhaustion from yesterday hadn't gone yet and she already had muscle cramps in her legs. She couldn't escape on her present condition.

But the carriage moved on and left the crowded part of the town behind and stopped before a beautiful mansion.

Kaine exited the carriage and gestured Minami to follow suit.

Minami followed her and right in front of her stood a man dressed in clothes she had seen before in one of her history books. This man was flanked by two maids who stood by his sides as if they were his bodyguards.

Kaine goes on to speak to that man and a moment later the same man comes forward and asks her something in their own tongue still a mystery to her.

The man must have noticed her confused face so he brought a wand to his right hand and cast a spell on Minami.

Minami was scared and shielded herself to save herself from the spell. Only to find out nothing has happened to her.

She looks up to see the man had already holstered his wand back.

"Are you alright," he asks.

Minami was surprised to understand what this man was speaking.

" Do you understand me ?"

"Yes, I can," Minami replies.

"Very good, like the translation worked perfectly," he said

" I am Count Colt the owner and caretaker of the Formar province. This is head maid Kaine. Now can I have your name young lady."

" I am Minami Suzuki."

" Well, that is short," Colt said sarcastically. " Care to tell something more about you."

" I will but please would you mind relieving of these." gesturing to her still retrained hands.

" Oh, where are my manners. Kaine, please remove those shackles from her hands."

As ordered Kaine unlocks Minami restrains. While doing so she notices the growling of Minami's stomach.

"Master I suggest we can finish our conversation after she had something to eat first."

"As you say head maid."

Colt turns around heading back to his mansion.

" Can you walk ?"

" I can manage," Minami replies.

A few minutes later Minami was given a different set of clothes and also was served with a hot meal which she gobbled up like a hungry giant. She was given room to rest for a while. Though being spectacle of these people's intention she couldn't deny the food and rest she was receiving right now.

After a good and comforting rest, she was woken by Kaine. She asked her to come and meet the count in the dining room.

Escorted by Kaine herself, Minami entered a large dining hall. There sat the Count having his lunch.

"Miss Minami please have seat," Colt said.

"Kaine, would you please take care of Myui for a while she would probably be playing outside."

"Yes, Milord." Kaine turned around to leave the room.

"Now tell me your story."

Minami moved on to tell how she ended up here and how she is a person from other side of the gate.

Colt was both fascinated and sad to hear this has been abducted from her home and nearly assaulted by one of the slave traders. He knew the empire and the nation on the other side are now at war and soon he will be called upon to join the fight.

"Miss Minami, I understand your pain and suffering you have gone through. For that reason, I will give you another chance to live your life. I ask you to work as a maid in my mansion, you are too far away from your home right now. I promise you will be safe. What do you think ?"

Minami thought for a while. She is really far away from home right now. This person in front of him is giving her a chance to live her life in safety she will be able to return back to her home. She accepted Count's offer.

"Very well, but I want you to keep your out worldly origin secret from any other person except me and Kaine. As your kingdom and our empire are fighting a war right now. Soon I will be summoned to muster an army to join the war. If something happens to me I don't want my people hurt you for your origin from the other side. Got it.

Minami nodded.

After that, she was rigorously trained by Kaine to be a proper maid in Colt's mansion. At first, Minami had a hard time adjusting her new life as a maid. A month after training she was accepted as a maid in Formar household and was soon able to befriend with Count's daughter Myui. Then the grave news arrived. Count Colt along with all the men he had lead into battle in defence of the Alnus hill where the gate is situated is killed during the enemy's counter-attack. The news of Count's death saddens many. Minami was glad she hid her origin or she could have been in the centre of prejudice in the whole mansion. Myui now Countess of Formar was hit the hardest due to loss of her only family. Not only she lost her only family now was burdened with running of this province at her young age. To Minami, she was the only true friend in this new world, Minami.

Minami now works as Myui personal maid. Myui was like her little sister she always wanted to have. But Minami knew the road to home is not far away and her stay is just temporary in this world.

Imperial Fists Base Camp, Deep inside Formar wildlands.

Commander Noldid walked briskly all around his command tent. He was waiting for the news from one of his units he had sent for a special mission. Just after half of his men were killed while fighting an unknown enemy nearly a week ago.

At first, he was furious, he wanted revenge but he cannot let anger cloud his judgement. So he decided to lay low for a while and first gather information about his unknown enemy. Though his men tried their best they were only able to gather a very little information that too those being stories and rumours spread by the Coda village survivors.

He has also failed in his mission to burn every village and small town in Formar province.

Suddenly two of his men entered the tent.

"Commander." they saluted.

"I see you have returned, have you brought what I asked you to bring ?"

"Yes sire."

Turning back he ordered.

" Bring him in."

a few seconds later two Fists enter the tent dragging a man and threw him at Noldid's feet.

This man was donned in a mixture of both Germanian and Gallian armour. He was badly beaten and bruised.

Kneeling down Noldid remarked. "So you are the famous leader of the Brigand army."

"My lord I heartily apologize for deserting the Imperial Legion. Please spare my life."

"Heh, when we surrounded his so-called Brigand army they quickly surrendered when they found out whom they were facing against. His own men rat him out from the group." A fist commented.

"So, what shall we do to you ?" Noldid asked directing looking at his eyes.

" Sire, he is a traitor for deserting the army, I suggest death through decimation." another fist suggested.

"No Milord have mercy, Please I am ready to do anything rather than face a dishonourable death through decimation."

" Very well then. Commander, I give you another chance to regain your honour, go back to your army along with some of my officers and prepare to march on Italica in two days. Your orders are to burn the city to the ground."

" But milord Italica is a fort city how can my..."

Noldid cut him off. " That's your concern, Now go back and show your face until the city is burned to the ground."

The commander turned to leave.

"Commander and remember, If you double-cross me or try to escape, you will face the most horrific and painful death," Noldid warned.

He nodded and moved out of the room.

"Sire, why to burn Italica ? we had orders not to touch the town." one of his men asked.

"Did you know who these men who killed our men were ?" Noldid asked.

He shook his head.

"Did you read the report given to us about the capabilities that the out-worldly armies possess ?"

"Yes, Sire. I have read it."

"Then you should know what the surviving commander informed us about the magical capabilities out worldly armies though being this information brushed aside by the high command concluding this being too farfetched and the surviving commander has lost his head. Magical muskets, highly accurate artillery, Iron horseless carriages. These all information somehow is coinciding the capabilities the saviours of Coda or now known as Green Guardians possess with the story and rumours spread all over Formar."

" Sire do you mean ?"

"Yes they are the outworlders and they have already advanced up to Coda village. Italica is not far behind. If nothing is done Italica will fall and they will be sitting on one of the largest sources of food grains in Germania. Our numbers at too low to face them on a direct confrontation, so we are going to burn the source of the food supply Italica to deny them that."

"Prepare to leave for Italica. We are going to accompany the Brigands in the destruction of Italica in the name of the emperor and empire."

"As you order my lord." was the unison answer from his men in the tent.

* * *

 _Guys, Thank you for reading the latest chapter of my story. Consider this chapter as an interlude before the real action and fighting begin in next chapter._

 _Don't forget to review_

 _Stay tuned for next chapter: Battle For Italica._


	9. 8 Battle For Italica PtI

**Guys UN Peacekeeper is back with another chapter, enjoy.**

* * *

 **Ch-8 Battle for Italica. Pt I**

Germania, Border of Formar Province, Tristain army camp.

8:45 AM (Earth Time)

It had been four days since the Tristania army had set up their camp on the banks of River Tire, the natural border between Formar province and other provinces. The camp is divided into two parts, one that housed the Tristanian army and the other for the Rose-Order knights.

Saito leaves his tent still in his old tracksuit and Derflinger swung on his back. He stretches his back looks around to see most of the soldiers were up and had begun performing their regular duties. It has been nearly 2 years since he came to this world after being summoned by Louise as her familiar. In the beginning, it was difficult for a person like him from a free world to be thrust into a class-based society depending on your ability to use magic, not on the basis of your merit. Slowly he began to get a hang of this society, well sometimes things would go overboard when Louise is around. Being tormented and blasted by her has become a common thing for him. He even had resurrected from the dead after being heavily wounded in battle against the Albionians. He had many good friends and even got a girl but he still misses his home, his family, his old life as a normal high school student who would worry about his grades all the time. For awhile during the early days of his stay he nurtured a hope he would return back to Japan someday but after letting his one and only chance to return go away for helping his friends in the fight against Albion invasion and after being stranded here for nearly 2 whole years that hope has already faded away to nothingness. He is going to live the rest of his life here away from his homeland.

Suddenly he hears heavy footsteps coming towards him. He looks around to see a soldier running towards him.

"Sire," he says. "General Gramont has summoned you."

" Ok soldier, lead the way."

Saito follows the soldier towards the command tent which had been set up right in the middle of the camp.

He enters the tent to find Guiche, Louise, Tabitha, Kirche and other officers including the acting commander of Rose-Knight order Bozes have gathered around.

"Saito you are late."

"Hehe, sorry Louise I think I just overslept."

"Why are you not in you armour I had it bought for you ?" she yelled at him.

"Hey, I can't wear that bulky armour when I am taking a break."

After his first death at Albion Louise decided it will be better this time Saito had some kind of protection on him rather than relying on his usual commoner garments he keeps on wearing though being rose to the rank of a noble. But for Saito those were bringers of pain, the armour set was highly uncomfortable for him to wear and move around. He hated them but due to Louise's persistence, he put them on from stopping her from going nuts.

As they began to quarrel Guiche butts in.

"Hey keep your lover's quarrel for some other time we are gathered here for to discuss something important right now."

This silences them both.

Seeing everything calming down Gramont began.

"Just half an hour ago a messenger arrived from Captain's Pina party. According to the messenger, the provincial capital Italica is under siege and captain Pina is requesting reinforcements."

"Then we have to make haste and send all available men we have," Bozes said.

"And we shall miss Bozes, go back to your camp and prepare your knights for the upcoming journey."

"It shall be done general, my Knights will be ready to move in an hour."

Bozes slowly bows her head and leaves.

Gramont turns his head towards Guiche and orders.

"Son, you will be taking command of the Tristain Royal Cavalry unit and join the Rose-Order knights as part of reinforcements sent to Italica."

Gramont notices the distressful expression on his son's face.

"Are you not up to the task ?" he asks calmly.

"No father it's not like that, it's just the first time I will be leading troops into battle so I got a little nervous."

"It's alright son, it is fine to be nervous when leading troops into battle, you not only have to concentrate on winning the fight but also had to take care of your men. I also had to go through the same when I was young as you but you will fare fine, you are my son after all."

"Thank you, father."

"Take good care of those men under your command, they are the best Tristain has to offer so use them accordingly. I will be following close by with rest of the army."

Guiche, Saito and others remaining in the tent bow their heads and began to leave.

"Be careful son and stay safe."

"I will father," Guiche replies with a smile as he leaves along with his companions to prepare for their journey to Italica.

(3 hours later)

The combined group comprising of Rose order knights and the whole Tristain royal cavalry unit under Guiche and his Ondine exited the camp and rode towards Italica. It is estimated they would be there in Italica to reinforce Pina and Napoleon in 2 to 3 days. While everyone was determined to help save the city from the foreign invaders, Saito, on the other hand, had a lot of doubts. They had very little to no information on the invading army, which distressed him the most.

But he was confident in him and his friends that with the use of his Gandálfr powers and the combined magical powers from Ondine knights, his friends and help from Rose order knights they will be able to break the siege and drive the invaders back to their camps at the foothills of Alnus hill.

* * *

Germania, Alnus Refugee Camp.

10: 50 AM (Earth time.)

The refugees had finally returned from battlefield now named by the refugees as the 'Graveyard of dragons'. With them, they brought two large sacks of dragon scales collected from the dead.

"Sage Cato, we were able to collect a large number of scales," Elvira said as she wiped the sweat from her face. Carrying this large sack alone was really hard and the bristling sun over their heads was making it harder.

"Two full sacks? that's' great" Cato said with a large smile.

Cato knew how rare the dragon scales have become, Though they make a good sturdy armour even with the power to block musket balls, with the use of Dragons as a beast used for war by the military, their hunt has been forbidden by the Imperial court. A person could only acquire dragon scales from a dead dragon corpse only in a battlefield.

"Hmmm... a dragon scale is worth several silver coins. With the scales have become a rare item the price must be higher. A single silver coin will be able to sustain a person for a few days. which means, we will be having a lot of money to gain in our hands."

"So, does that mean we are filthy rich now." one of the refugees asks.

" We should entrust these to an important trader who would be able to pay us the right amount." another said.

"I have an old merchant friend in Italica. He may be helpful if we can settle a deal with him."

"But Sage Cato how will be able to get there? We do not have any mood of transportation." Elvira said.

Cato thought for a while and then replied with a smirk on his face.

"Don't worry, my dear, I think I will ask General Hazama a favour. After all, I am their magical arts advisor after all."

* * *

UNTF Fort Endurance, Special Region, August 29, 2019.

12:10 PM (Earth Time)

Command Center, Hazama's Office.

Itami and Arran stood before General Hazama's desk. Not long ago both the men were indulged in leading their own platoons in the regular military exercise. Until both were informed they were being summoned by General Hazama and were to report to him immediately. With no time to lose and not wanting to piss off their commanding general, they hitched a ride to the command center.

"Gentlemen I have a very special mission especially for your platoon."

"Special mission, sir ?." Itami asked.

"Yes, RCT 3 will be escorting and helping Sage Cato aka our magical arts expert and a group of other refugees with him on a trading endeavour to the provincial capital of Italica. There they are going to sell the dragon scales they have collected from the rotting dragon corpses on the field. According to them, these scales fetch a high price in this world's market. The refugees are trying to earn enough money so they can sustain themselves on their own and become independent of us in near future."

"With all due respect, sir, why our platoon is chosen for this mission.?" Arran asked.

"Cato personally asked for your RCT3 to be their escorts Lieutenant. These people trust you because you were the ones that protected them from the Imperial army and brought them back here so they would under our care and protection. They trust you, people, more than any of our men right now and your team is also the only one to have made a friendly contact with the natives, understood."

"Yes, Sir."

"Now look here," Hazama said pointing towards a map on his table. The map depicted the scouted regions around the Alnus Hill.

"Here is Fort Endurance. To the south is the city of Italica, This city according to the information we have acquired is the important trade center and the breadbasket of the Germanian Empire. Due to its close proximity to the central highway connecting the imperial capital with the capitals of other two kingdoms makes this city as a staging and resting ground for the trading convoys passing through the city. The Formar province is also considered having the most fertile soil in all the eastern provinces of the empire. Controlling the city means we are hitting two birds with a single arrow. The connection between the Kingdoms will be served along with the food supply feeding the imperial war effort will be severely hampered."

"Sir, what are the objectives for this mission ?" Arran asked.

" Escorting Cato and his group is just a cover to gain entry into the city. After gaining entry through the gates your objective is to scout the city for the location of barracks and armoury and measure the level of defences, the strength of the garrison and the number of noble officers those are stationed for the city's defence. any questions ?"

"Sir, if things go south what kind of reinforcements do we expect ?" asked Itami.

"The Combat group Beta under Col. Romanov will be ready to leave as soon as you radio us for reinforcement. Helicopter gunships will be on station to provide air and ground support. any more questions ?"

"..."

"Good, Lt. Itami, go there help the refugees sell their merchandise, scout, return back and report what you have learned. Be friendly as much as you can, but be on your guard you will be deep inside enemy territory. While you are in the city try to find out the whereabouts of out of our abducted civilians, If you find anything report back immediately. You will be leaving tomorrow. Dismissed! "

"Sir, yes sir." Itami and Arran replied in unison, presented a sharp salute and left the room. Hazama turned to the map again and thought to himself "Very soon the first major offensive is going to commence against the imperial forces and their allies. With Italica and basically the whole province under our control, the communications between Germania and her allies would be broken. They will have to fight the war alone isolated from their allies. With mounting casualties on their side, we will force them on to the negotiation table. If negotiations break down the full might of the United Nations Task Force will be unleashed upon them."

( Next Day)

9:15 AM (Earth Time)

RCT 3 vehicles exited the concrete walls of Fort Endurance. Their destination was the refugee camp where they were to pick up the collected dragon scales along with Cato and few others.

"So we are delivery service now ?" asked James

"It's technically reconnaissance," answered Carter. "The selling of those scales is just a cover for our entry into the city. No one made contact with the city yet, so it is a perfect opportunity for us to convince the locals we are not actually invading their asses and pillaging their villages and towns for fun."

"Oui, their own army is doing that not us," Cardwell said.

"For the best part, we are taking civilians to the place we don't know anything about..."

"Damn I hate babysitting," James stated.

"What do you think Sergent ?" Cardwell asked Beaman who sat beside him.

"Well according to my opinion going there with people who know the place is better than risking ourselves trying to communicate with people those are convinced we are invading their land."

He turned towards Arran who sat in the front seat.

"Isn't it right Lt. ?"

"Yes, it is Sergeant." Arran replied.

Muller who was in the driver's seat nodded his head in agreement with his officer while still concentrating driving the Humvee.

The convoy slowed down and pulled over at the Refugee camp entrance.

Itami and Arran got out of their respective vehicles and decided to wait for the refugees to arrive.

A few minutes later they saw Cato walking towards them with the support of his staff closely followed by Elvira and another girl Rainn carrying the fabric cloth sacks filled with dragon scales.

"Good morning Mr Cato," Arran says with a warm smile.

"Good morning to you too, sir," Cato replies back

"You have brought only two bags, sir," Itami asked.

"Oh yes, these are the highest quality scale we were able to gather so far."

"Ok, put them here" Itami opens the back door of his HMV. "we are going to leave immediately."

He helps them climb aboard the vehicle.

Everyone got back into their vehicles and the convoy began to roll.

For next 3 hours, the convoy moved through the dirt road leading to the city. Along the way, Elvira took a nap while Rainn kept her graze on the HMV's window, Kuwahara explained the workings of a compass to Cato, they talked among themselves as if they were old acquaintances from before. It was a pleasant ride before everyone noticed a thick black smoke rising from a distance.

The convoy came to a halt.

Arran this is Itami, could you see the black smoke rising over there. If we are not far from Italica I think it is coming from it. over

Affirmative, should we continue ? over

He thought for awhile and then replied.

We will continue towards the objective, but cautioned is advised. How copy? over.

Solid copy

The convoy began to move as the top mounted gunners and the IFV kept a vigilant watch on their surrounding for possible hostiles.

* * *

Italica, West gate, August 30, 2019.

10: 20 PM ( Earth Time )

"Run, brigand scum run."

"We won, we won."

Several town watchmen and militia volunteers raised their swords and spears in the air as they successfully defended against the second brigand attempt to breach the west gate.

But Pina who stood among them on the walls of the west gate didn't join their small celebration. She was worried, the gates of the wall were broken and the town militia had taken heavy casualties in containing the brigands' breach through the gates. She looked on as the brigands ran away from the walls after losing a considerable amount of men in this assault. Instead of a rout, it was a tactical withdrawal. She full well knew they will be coming back after they regrouped their forces later on. They knew with the present condition of the city defenders they wouldn't be able to hold another assault through this broken gate.

Outside the wall, the corpses of the bandits and horses scattered all around the ground.

"Norma! Hamilton! Napoleon! are you all alright ?"

Inside the broken gate, Norma and Napoleon were defending a barricade. Norma rose up by supporting himself on his sword, while Napoleon stood by supporting himself on the barricade. They both panted heavily. Their armours were marked with sword hits and blood of their foes.

Magic is the best weapon for a noble knight when it used in close range or duelling against another mage but when your enemy gets too close you had to take them on up close and personal by using your sword, not your wand which is practically useless in this kind of situation. For the knights entering their first battle against a determined enemy, it was an eye-opening experience. Napoleon, on the other hand, had seen some action in the previous war so he was in a better condition than the others around him.

The surrounding was covered with the bodies of the attacking bandits and of the defending soldiers everywhere. An intense battle was fought here.

Hamilton was already on the ground. She straightened her legs with her palms supporting her body, barely from keeling over.

"We are somehow, alive."

Coming down through the stairway leading to up the wall Pina looked down to see Gray, waiting.

"Captain, how cold! , you are not worried about me ?"

"Gray I know you would be fine so I didn't ask," Pina replied.

Gray was one of the few lucky commoners to have been raised from rank of a common footman to knight by the displays of skills on the battlefield and the experiences he gained from the battles he fought. He stood there with no sign of fatigue on his face. There was not a single drop of blood on him. If there wasn't any blood on his sword then Pina would have considered he was hiding somewhere during the fight. He still looked energetic and had a smile on his face.

"Captain, why are we fighting with these marauders here ?" Hamilton complained.

"It can't be helped, I thought the outworlders army would be besieging Italica. Not our own soldiers turned bandits."

On the way to Italica Pina's party came across several fleeing villagers who informed them that Italica was under siege by a large armed group. After hearing this news Pina thought that the outworlders army had begun their offensive. She sends one of her riders back to General Gramont to sent reinforcements to Italica as quick as possible and rushed to the city to help in its defence.

However, she soon realized the ones attacking Italica were, in fact, the remnant of the combined army consisting of former Imperial and Gallian troops those who deserted during and after the disastrous battle of Alnus hill.

After entering through the southern gate of the city she heads straight into the Italica's count mansion and by the permission of the countess who is a twelve-year-old girl took over the command of the city's defences. She had assured the Countess and the citizens that they had to hold for just three days until reinforcements would arrive to lift the siege.

After the battle had come to an end men who still had some strength left rushed back and forth to put out the fire. Women tried to treat and help the wounded while children collected scattered weapons and arrows. The muskets were now completely being useless as most of the gunpowder they had all been used up in the first two brigand assaults. Surviving musketeers ditched their muskets for a sword or a spear.

"Milady... may we take a little break."

An old man who represented the citizens asked

"The brigands haven't given up yet, they would soon rally and attack us again."

looking towards the now destroyed gates. " We can't rely on this gate to protect us anymore. It is going to be even more tiring."

"But, milady..."

"I am not asking you. This is an order."

"As you wish," he replied back.

She then walks towards Napoleon who was keeping track on the condition of the gate.

"Sir Napoleon, how are the city gates holding, can we repair them?"

"I don't think so Captain Pina, the bolts are completely destroyed, it is beyond repair," he replies back.

Pina silently curses her foolishness for not bringing any earth mage with her. The ones those were attached to the Tristain unit were already dead.

"So, what should we do right now ?"

"May I suggest, Why not we tear the gate down and jam up the entrance," Gray suggests.

"Good make it do."

Gray began instructing the people to gather sturdy furniture and pile them against the gate.

"If they come too close then we will burn it, and might well keep tossing more wood in to keep it burning. After all a burning fence is a great barrier."

Pina nodded and said.

"I am heading to the Countess mansion to report our present situation, stay on alert and keep your eyes peeled for any bandit attack."

Napoleon and Gray nodded.

(10 Minutes later).

After presenting the report on the current situation to the countess, the head maid requested her to have a little food and rest, which she gladly accepted.

After filling her stomach with enough food, she decided to take a short nap in the guest room and instructed the head maid that if anything happens to bring the messenger directly to her.

While leaving the room Pina turned around and asked the old Head maid.

"What would you do if I do not wake up?"

The head maid replied with a creepy smile. "I would splash water on Milady's face and invite her to rise."

"Very good."

( 1 Hour later )

Pina suddenly wake up from her slumber when she felt a feeling of cold water on her face.

She quickly donned her armour over her clothes and headed towards the east gate, as the messenger had informed her a new situation has arisen.

* * *

Italica, East gate

Outside.

12:20 PM (Earth Time)

The convoy came to a halt just a few meters away from the gate. The surrounding looked like an intense battle was fought here just hours ago. Though there were no bodies around to be seen the corpses of the dead horse and the sight of some discarded broken weapons and dried blood on the ground proved that point.

Itami took a glance towards the top of the wall to see several men were aiming their bows and crossbows towards them.

"It looks like they are under siege or something," Kurata commented.

"They are really not happy to see us here," Kurokawa said.

Suddenly they heard a Knight yelling at the top of the wall.

"Who is there? Friend or foe, if you are a friend then come out and show yourself."

"Ehh... I think we should try to find somewhere else to sell those dragon scales."

"No, we can't, if we turn back now then we will be perceived as a threat and might face the same hostile welcome whichever town we may go next," Cato stated.

"We have to show them we are not hostile."

Cato opened the back door of the HMV and hopped out, followed by Elvira and Rainn.

'Damn' Itami said to himself.

"I will follow them, stay on alert, at the first sign of hostility prepare to lay suppressive fire and bug out as fast as possible."

The plan was relayed to the others. As Itami got out of his HMV he looked back to see Arran coming and joining him.

"Hey, you didn't need to join us."

"I can't let you go alone you know and let you do something stupid."

They began to follow Cato and his group towards the gate.

* * *

Italica, East gate.

Inside.

12:40 (Earth time)

On the top of the wall, after Norma called out to the unknown people outside the gates, Napoleon and Italica militiamen on the top of the wall waited for their response. They had their bows and crossbows pointed towards them but Napoleon doubted those would be useful against those metal constructs outside the gate.

A few moments later they were soon joined by Captain Pina and her page.

They looked through the small opening on the eastern gate's small side door.

"What are those ?" asked Hamilton "Are those armoured carriages ?"

"We don't know," Napoleon said coming down from the wall. "Whatever things those are they are forged iron and there are people riding them."

"The last bigger one looks quite intimidating."

They waited for a few seconds more with no response.

"Norma" Pina ordered, "Tell them this is their last warning before w..."

"Captain someone coming out from those metal carriages." Grey points out.

From behind the first carriage, three people came out.

The first was an old man wearing blue wizard master clothing and a pointed hat. He began to walk with the support of his staff on his right hand. Then followed by two women one had a blonde and other brown hair. Then finally being joined by two men in Green fabric clothing and helmets. Though both the men's clothing patterns were totally different.

"Master Cato !"

Pina looked towards Grey who had a surprised look on his face.

"That's master Cato, the renowned mage who personally trained his majesty the Emperor."

Grey nodded and says.

"Captain if Master Cato is on those strange people side then it is safe to assume they are not hostile."

"Are you sure Grey ?"

"Yes captain, I am absolutely sure."

Pina thought for a minute, Pina master Cato had already taken the side of the Brigands they would have already broken through the walls during the first assault. Having a veteran and powerful mage on their side will turn the tide of the battle. They surely are on short on noble officers right now. Half of Napoleon's men are already dead and wounded.

 _Knock Knock_

They were now at the door.

Pina thought for a few seconds before saying to herself.

"If they are not our enemies, it is better making them our allies."

She in a hurry pushed the wooden bar of the door and pushed the door open.

"Welco..."

On the other side, there were master Cato and the two girls. They were looking at the ground with a confused expression on their faces.

She looked down to see a man in green clothes lay unconscious on the ground.

When she raised her head to explain her mistake she found out his companion is pointing a black stave which oddly looked like a musket at her face.

(30 seconds earlier)

As they reached the side door of the large wooden gate, Itami decided to initiate the first contact with the city's inhabitants.

"Should I call Muller to help you ?"

"No it will be fine Arran, I have trained myself a bit in the local language. Until they don't use some new word it will be fine."

Itami knocks at the door.

There wasn't a response for a few seconds.

Itami turned his head back to say something to Arran when suddenly the door opens up towards him knocking him out cold.

By reflex, Arran quickly pointed his L85 rifle at the red headed woman's face.

"RCT actual is down! RCT actual is down"

From the back of the convoy, he could the cocking of the machine guns as they pointed towards the wall. The German APC broke formation and jumped in front of Itami's HMV.

Kurokawa, Carter and James soon Joined Arran at the gate.

Kurokawa kneeled down to check Itami

"He is alright Sir, Lt. is just unconscious." She stated

"Well then, don't just stand there wake him up." Arran barked.

"Was it my doing..?" Pina asked both confused and scared, she never had a musket pointed towards her. Her knights wouldn't move a muscle for the safety of their commander and the militiamen were too scared right now with an Iron behemoth now standing in front of their gate posed to break through it if anything happens.

Cato nodded and said. "Young knight you should think about the person on the other side of the door before opening it like that."

After a few slaps on Itami's face, he finally gained his consciousness.

"Ohh, my face.." he mutters. " Care to explain what just happened ?"

"Sir, You were just knocked out by the lady over there," Carter answered as he pointed his L85 towards her.

"Hey," Itami said while standing up. "can't you be bit careful when opening a door."

The answer didn't come, instead, he saw she was paralysed with fear, he looked back to see the reason why. When you have three assault rifles pointed towards your face you ought to paralyze in fear.

Itami gestures towards Arran to lower their guns. Which they do but they keep their guns at the ready to meet any threats.

Seeing them lowering their weapons Pina sighs is relief along with her fellow knights

Itami then decides to strike a conversation by beginning with..

"So miss I think you owe me an apology for your mistakes you know."

Before she could reply a shorter woman in a similar armour of the redhead but less decorative stepped in front the woman blocking the way and yells at them on top of her voice.

"Stupid commoners, this is an insult to the nobility of Germania, show some respect, you are standing before Pina de Terre a noble and commander of the Rose knight order. You should bend your knee and apologize immediately for addressing her in such a barbaric manner."

As Itami tried to find words to respond, Arran took over.

He walks past Itami and stands in front of the short brown haired teenager. "Did he ask you anything little girl? Ehm ? " he snaps at her.

This enrages Hamilton, as she reaches to her wand, she is suddenly smacked by Pina from behind on her head, who has now return back to normalcy and saw her subordinate trying to escalate the already tensed situation.

"I apologize for my subordinate's rude behaviour and my clumsiness before, please come in."

She moves away from the door to let Itami and his group in. Once inside she asks.

Arran instructed his men to form a small circle around the civilians. They were receiving several curious glances from the Militiamen and the townspeople who were watching the strange clothed men entering through the gate.

"What business are you all here for ?"

Arran turns back and asks. "Mr Cato, would you take over ?"

"Yes, my good man why not."

Cato comes forward.

"Young knight, we came here with no hostile intent, we are here just to sale our things in this town."

"Sage Cato !" Someone yells from behind the barricade.

Cato looks over Pina's shoulder to see his old companion Percival, Coda's village chief coming towards him. He was soon blocked a few knights from coming any closer.

"Young Knight, would you please let my old friend through."

Pina nodded and orders her knights to let him through.

Percival arrives and gave Cato a bear hug.

"Cato, you come again in the time of our need." He looks past his shoulders to see and recognise the face of his village saviours.

"Thanks to the founder, you have also brought the Green Guardians with you, the city will be truly saved." He said out loud.

Percival turns towards the dishearten defenders and people of Italica and began to shouts in joy.

"People of Italica, we are not in peril anymore, the saviours of the Coda village, the warriors who stood their ground alone against the might of the Imperial Fists and their dragons and prevailed, the Green Guardians are here to help us save the town of Italica from the evil clutches of the Brigand army."

First, there was no response and then slowly people began to cheer waving their weapons and hands in the air in joy. For them, the legendary Green Guardians are here to help the beleaguered people on Italica in the time of their need as they did for the Coda villagers. The morale of the people grew ten forth as the news of their arrival began to spread all over the town.

"Ehh... Lt. why are these people are cheering ?" James asks.

"They are cheering for us private, we are somehow popular among these people for helping the Coda villagers before. They have even had a nickname for us."

"What is that, Sir ?"

"Green Guardians."

As the commoners cheered, the Noble knights especially Pina had a grim look on her face. In front, her were the men who defeated the mighty Imperial Fists. They are her enemy who tried to defy Imperial authority in Formar. But now she needed them the most, There aren't many mages left in the town. Many are already dead or wounded in the previous assaults. She wanted to draw her wand and cast a deadly spell on these people but she controlled herself. The defence of the city comes first, so by swallowing her honour and says.

"Please follow me, we have much to discuss."

"Before we follow you I want you to open the gates so that our men outside would be able to enter into the city," Arran said.

Pina sighs and orders her men to open the main gate. A few seconds later five strange horseless iron carriages enter the through the gate.

Soldiers from RCT 3 began to disembark and form a perimeter around their vehicles to keep the curious civilians away.

"Now would you please follow me."

"Master Cato, would you join us ?" Itami asks.

"Sure, why not, lead the way."

"Carter and James follow me, others stay here to be on alert, but stay as friendly as possible. Also, don't let Rainn and Elvira go anywhere until we return."

"Yes sir." members of RCT 3 replied in unison.

Pina began to walk towards the large mansion that sat all above the medieval-looking building in the city followed by Itami, Arran, Cato, Carter and James.

Italica, Formar Mansion.

For generations, Italica has been under the generous rule of the counts of the Formar family. Due to the unwavering loyalty for generations to the crown the relation between the counts of Formar and the ruling emperor has always been strong.

The group walks down a long corridor of the massive mansion as the Pina explains the town's history.

"A couple of months ago the emperor along with the Gallian king with full support from the Pope opened the Gate on the Alnus hill. The main objective of opening the gate was to open a direct route the Holy lands and send an invasion force through it and catch the Elves off-guard. Instead, the gate joined to a strange new world. With the ambition of further expansion of the imperial authority to the unknown lands on the other side of the gate, it was decided to send an invasion force anyway. Instead of glorious victory the Imperial legions faced a crushing defeat and were forced to flee. The gate was temporarily sealed off and call came to muster a force to defend the imperial land from the enemy counterattack. The Count answered the call by leading most of the professional soldiers along with entire Italican artillery corp. with him. The enemy didn't make a move for nearly a month when suddenly they attacked the holiest and auspicious day the birthday of the Founder Brimir which is celebrated as a big event all over the Halkeginia. The defenders were caught off guard and were massacred, a few were able to escape only to go insane later on after witnessing the horrors of the massacre of their comrades. The Count and the Italican soldiers never returned. This in return turned the law and order situation of the entire province into a nightmare. The regular patrols those were conducted before halted completely. The situation became so bad that even defending the city is proving difficult."

The group then stopped in front of a large wooden door.

"Right past the door is Myui, the current Countess of Formar province and leader of Italica."

Pina pushed the door open revealing the throne room of the Formar mansion. In the middle of the highly decorated room, on a small podium, sat a small girl with orange hair in a pink dress on a wooden chair. On her right was an old woman in maid clothes and on the left was a man in butler clothing.

"Damn, she is just a child," Carter whispers.

"No shit," James replies.

"The countess just turned twelve recently," Cato informs as they enter the throne room.

Pina took a few steps and stands next to the decorated throne.

"As you all can see, asking her to command an army would be too much, so I have taken the command of the defences in her stead."

"Captain, who are those people ?" Myui asks curiously looking at the strange green clothed men in front of her.

She had recently heard stories of men in green clothes and armour have fought against the imperial fists and soundly defeated them while protecting the Coda villagers. They have become s stuff of legend among the commoners. She was also glad they stopped the horrible acts of violence committed by them on her people.

"They are..." Pina was interrupted when Arran came forward from the group to themselves.

" Lieutenant Arran, madam, I am officer of the 3rd Battalion of the British army, Lieutenant Itami officer of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force. We are part of the United Nations Task Force and I assure you we nor our armies do not desire to threaten you or your city."

"Then would you help us ?, the Tristain army and Rose order knights are still a day away from the city and the defences are failing, I have heard the stories of men in green clothes like you have fought and defeated the mighty Imperial Fists. If these stories are true then help us hold the town for tonight."

There was silence for a minute or so

"We would like to help you," Itami says breaking the silence.

"Hey, Itami aren't you jumping up the gun," Arran whispers.

"These people are in dire need of our help. If the city falls not only the civilians will be massacred we will also be losing this strategic position."

Thinking for awhile Arran walks out of the room. He switches his radio on.

"RCT3 4-3 this is RCT3 4-1 come in, over."

"This is RCT3 4-3, over."

"RCT3 4-4 local authorities are asking for our help to help them defend this from the Brigands for tonight. Contact Base command and ask permission if we can do that, over."

"Roger that RCT3 4-1, out"

He walks back to the room to see Cato was having a hearty conversation with the countess.

He joins back the group and waits for a response from the command.

Suddenly his radio crackles to life drawing everyone's attention towards him.

"RCT3 4-1, command is ok with us for aiding the city, but they asked for more information about the situation we are in ASAP. over"

"Affirmative 4-4 will try to gain more information as quick as possible, 4-1 over"

"4-4, and inform other units to be prepared for combat. over"

"Roger that 4-1, 4-4, out."

"What were you doing now ?" Myui asks.

"Me? your highness, I just received confirmation from my high command to help you defend the town."

"How can you do this, are you a mage ?"

"No, you milady, we along with the whole of the UN Task Force not a single one of them is a mage. Everything we do is possible due to the fact of the advanced technologies we use." Cato explains.

"Advanced what ?"

"They make use of their scientific advances rather than the use of magic, milady" Cato said.

"So you are all commoners, Your army is an army of commoners," Pina states shocked by this revelation.

"Our base is situated at the Alnus hill."

"You are the outworlders those are invading the empire !" Pina stated as placing the countess behind her.

"Why are you helping us ?" Countess asks.

"Countess" Arran explains calmly "Though we at war with the empire, the safety and life of civilians comes first. That's the reason why we are ready to help you."

"How do you have those horseless armoured carriages ?" Countess asks again as Pina stays in the alert.

"Countess, can we keep the explanation for later on. Right now we have to plan for the defence of the city." Itami says.

Pina sighs she now know the real identity of the Green Guardians. They were the out-worldly invaders and her enemy, but the Itami person was right they have to place the city and its people before her personal grudges. She will deal with them later on after the brigand menace is taken care of.

"Right we will discuss this later on, Now please follow me."

"Head maid would you sent a messenger to the get Captain Napoleon here."

"Certainly milady."

The soldiers and Cato follow Pina and the Countess into another room. Sometime later they are soon joined by Napoleon.

Countess ordered one of her maids to prepare some beverages and also bring the map of the city.

"Please have a seat," Pina said.

Arran, Itami and Cato took the sofa on the left while Carter and James stood behind them. The three nobles took the right. A table lay in between. As the group were sitting down the maid returned with a large tray with eight small cups and a jug. She gave everybody a cup and filled them with a pink liquid which looked like grape juice. The map was rolled on the table. The map was only a drawing, but it had the precise representation of every roads, streets and alley.

Arran checks his pockets only to find his notepad is missing.

'Must have left it in the Humvee' he thought.

"Itami you have notepad ?" Arran asked.

"Yeah sure, here."

"Good," he said as drew a pen from his pocket.

Pina with Napoleon's help began to explain the current state of the defences of the city.

"We currently have nearly one thousand men including the noble officers defending the city," Pina said.

"We presume there are nearly 800 or so brigands attacking the city," Napoleon added.

Arran nodes and notes the data into his notepad.

"So we have the advantage in numbers." Itami states.

"Though we have clearly numerical advantage the brigands are former imperial soldiers who were attacking the Alnus hill. They also have some Gallian troops in their ranks. They all have the basic training when joining their respective armies. A lot of them have battlefield experience under their belt. On the other hand except for a few noble officers and Town watchmen, others are peasants, farmers, merchants and artisans who took up arms to defend the city." Pina stated.

"The brigands also don't have the numbers to attack multiple locations at the same time," Napoleon added.

"As you can see." pointing towards the map. " the brigands attacked the East gate today morning, the gates were heavily damaged during the attack and they likely are going to attack that position again."

"Countess would you allow the non-combatants to take shelter in the mansion, I do not want woman and children caught up in the middle of the fighting when it begins," Itami asks.

"Yes, I think it will be possible."

"Good."

"What is going to be our strategy ?"

"I want you to guard the West Gate for tonight, they will definitely attack us from there, if the rumours of your capabilities are true then you will be able to push them back," Pina says by taking the initiative.

"Hmmm... Captain, I think your plan is fine but I want to post some of my men on other gates too, so that if the bandits think otherwise then they can act as your reinforcements."

Pina thinks for a while.

"Ok then we have an agreement, Take your men to the west gate."

Arran and Itami stood up and saluted before leaving the room followed by Cato, leaving the Pina, Napoleon and Countess alone in the room.

"It is a right decision to let them enter the city? They are the outworlders from the Alnus after all." Myui asks who was having doubts of the true intentions of the these Green guardians.

"Time will tell countess, time will tell," Pina replies.

Deep inside Pina was praying to the founder for the Brigands to attack the West gate tonight. Not only the outworlders would be dead by defending the already broken gate as how powerful their rumoured weapons must be they are still commoners and they can't hold out against overwhelming numbers. The brigands also will be low on strength after facing them and She would be able to lead the city's militia to victory. She would be hitting two birds with a single stone. The surviving outworlders would be taken as prisoners and their so-called advanced technology would be under imperial possession.

Finally, She would be able to avenge her brother Vance death who was killed in the defence of the gate by securing the first victory against the out worlder invaders.

( 5 minutes later )

Itami and Arran walk through the empty hallway towards the mansion gates.

As they exited the mansion Arran turns his head back to find James was missing from the group.

"Carter when did that guy go?"

"Sir I think he might be taking some pictures with his camera. He was already fascinated when we entered the mansion and wanted to explore it for a bit."

"Ehh... that idiot. go quickly and get him before he does something that might offend these people."

"Yes, sir."

Carter walks back into the mansion and finds out James was there taking pictures of some decorative carvings and paintings on the walls.

"Hey asshole, don't just run off from the group like a little kid searching for a candy," he yells at him.

"Sorry, just got mesmerised by these paintings over here."

"Get over here before Lt. kick our asses."

"Okie dokie."

He slings his camera and began to run towards Carter, but suddenly he crashes into a maid who came out of nowhere holding a large basket filled with loads of bread.

"Kyaaaa."

Massaging his back James get back on his feet and extends his hand to the fallen girl.

"Sorry miss."

The girl her head and looks right into James' eyes. Her calm face soon turns into surprised and then to tears. She caught hold of James' hand and began rambling to his surprise in Japanese.

Soon he was joined by Carter

"Miss could you be able to speak in English please, I do not understand Japanese."

The girl stops and after a few seconds utter a few words in broken English.

"You...British Army...Come...help...me...I... _Nihhon_...person."

"You are a Japanese citizen!" James asks her with widen eyes.

The girl nods in response.

Carter contact Lt. ASAP, I think we might just have found a missing person from the Battle of Ginza.

* * *

Formar Mansion, Throne room.

Countess Myui had never been felt so betrayed in her whole life. He personal maid, whom she has also considered as her best friend turned out to be an outworlder.

After the strategy planning was over, Captain Pina and Napoleon stayed behind to discuss how to deal with these outworlder soldiers after the Brigand threat was dealt with. But when suddenly the door of the throne room was flung open as Itami and Arran enter the throne room along with their two other soldiers escorting Minami along with them.

Seeing this Head maid miss Kaine quickly responded.

"Dear sirs, did Minami did something wrong ?"

" No, madam she did nothing wrong, but we are here to present our gratitude for rescuing and protecting one of our citizens from the other side of the gate," Itami said.

Myui widen her eyes and quickly stood up from her throne.

"What !, Minami is this true ? are from the other side of the gate ?"

Minami comes forward and speaks by lowering her head

"Yes milady, I am a Japanese citizen, my home lies on the other side of the gate. I was kidnapped by the Imperial army but was able to escape from their clutches while on the road to a slave market."

"Then your story of your native village on the far east of Italica, the accounts of your family, where it all just a lie."

"I am sorry milady, the part of my home in a far-off village was a lie, but the part that I share with you about my family was all true."

"You were the only one I ever trusted, but you lied to me."

"I am sorry milady, I am sorry for deceiving you and every other person in this mansion who was kind to me. I was scared that if my origins were discovered I would have been looked down upon, or worse I would have been handed over to the army and sold into slavery." Minami says as tears flow down her cheeks.

Myui comes down her podium and hugs Minami and says.

"I would never have done that, though you were from otherside of the gate, you are still my friend."

As she releases her. "But you shouldn't have hidden your origins from me."

"Milady, It was your father's orders to keep her origin secret from others. It was meant to protect her from the prejudice of other staff members of the mansion. He didn't want this poor girl to suffer more for only being an outsider as he rode to battle her people at the gate." Kaine speaks up.

Myui lowers her head

"I understand, he was always a very kind person who looked after his people."

She turns towards Itami and asks. "Are you going to take her away ?"

" Yes your highness, she had to return back to her home and to her family."

"I understand."

"Your Highness, would you allow Minami to be under your care until the battle is over?" Arran asks.

"Yes, she is welcome to stay as many days she wants, She is my friend after all," Myui says with a smile.

Itami and Arran present a quick salute before turning back and leaving the room. Leaving Minami behind in the Throne room.

"Minami."

"Yes, milady."

"I want to know about the world that lies on the other side of the gate. Would you tell me about it ?"

"Yes, milady certainly," Minami replies.

" Please, you are my friend call me Myui."

* * *

Brigand Base Camp, Commander's tent.

Brigand commander Solvin was having a hard time keeping his men from deserting again. He already had nearly died twice, first in the hands of outworlders counter-attack and then in the hands of the Imperial fists when his own men rat him out in fear of being burned alive by their dragons. The only thing keeping his men from running away was the fear of being executed by the worst possible seen fit by the fists.

He looks around to see the wounded were being treated and dead were being piled up into a grave near the camp. Nearly one-third of his men were dead or wounded. He hasn't expected these much casualties. If there were only the town watch and the city's militia they were facing then the siege would have been a walkover. But in the nick of time, a group of Noble knights reinforced the city and were inflicting heavy losses on his forces by their magical attacks.

The first assault ended in a disaster, his men weren't expecting the Knights joining the defender's ranks and were forced to retreat after heavy losses. The second assault also ended in failure but he also able to secure a strategic victory in the battle. His musketeers were able to kill and wound many knights those dared to venture on top of the wall. After the gates were broken much more were killed in the melee that followed. If he had a pair of cannons in his possession then those walls and those Nobles wouldn't have stood a chance.

He hears a pair of heavy footsteps marching towards him. His around to see a group of Fists lead by Captain Noldid coming towards him.

"My lord." Solvin bows his head.

"Commander, I had expected you to break through the walls the day before yesterday. What is the holdup?"

"Sire, it would have been possible if the defenders weren't being reinforced by a group of Noble Knights. They already have inflicted heavy losses on my men."

He notices a frown forming on Noldid's face.

"Not to wo...worry my lord, my musketeers have already taken care of most of them, only a hand of them remain standing. I promise in the next assault tonight we would surely break through their defences and sack the city."

"I will be taking command of tonight's attack commander. I want this siege over with as quick as possible. The knights of the city must have requested reinforcements and they will be arriving soon. The city must be burning before they arrive." Noldid states.

"Yes my lord, I will be honoured to be fighting under your command."

"Hmmm... what is your strategy for tonight's assault ?"

Solvin unrolls the map on the table. The map has been marked with a red x which designates the broken gate. He points towards the west gate and says.

"Sire, we have already broken through the western gate. I have decided to lead the attack through this gate tonight."

Noldid thinks for awhile.

"That will not do you are going to lead the infantry assault on the East gate. You have already broken through east so they would have set up their heavier defences there. Attack them where they least expect and we will prevail."

he continues. " You will personally lead the infantry charge against their defences. If you are unable to breakthrough then only we will join the battle. Are you clear ?"

Solvin nods and replies. "Yes my lord."

"Good, then go and prepare for tonight's attack."

Solvin salutes and turns around to leaves the tent.

"If he fails to take the walls then kill him on the spot and take command," he orders one of his subordinates.

Looking at the map of the city. Noldid unsheathes his knife and stabs it into the heart of the city where the Formar mansion is situated.

"Tonight Italica will burn."

* * *

UNTF Fort Endurance, Special Region, August 30, 2019.

Command Centre, Briefing room.

"Gentlemen Attention please."

The conversations between the officers suddenly stopped as Gen. Hazama stepped on the small stage. O'Brien stood beside him.

"At 1240 hours RCT 3 made contact with the city of Italica. the regional capital and an important trade hub of the region. The city is currently under attack by a large bandit army. The local leadership has asked for our assistance to deal with the bandits and we are going to help them."

He points towards the aerial image of the city taken just a few days back through a UAV.

"According to the info we are provided by our men. The city's western gates have already been damaged beyond repair leaving a massive gap between the city's defences. our men have also reported that the city's defences won't be able to hold another assault due to the casualties they already have taken."

"Sir." An Italian officer raises his hand.

"Yes."

"Sir, the brigands are attacking a city full of people, they must have a numerical advantage the besieging bandits."

"You are right Lieutenant, but the defenders are just conscripted citizens armed with pitchforks and spears. On the other hand, the attackers are former soldiers from the army those have resorted to banditry after we routed their army during the battle of Endurance. The main professional defending force of the city has also been downsized after their previous lord led his army against our initial push into the special region. From what info we have gathered the city is now ruled by a twelve-year-old girl with no experience. We also have confirmed reports on the discovery of a Japanese citizen who was abducted during the battle of Ginza. The person had been rescued and sheltered by the present countess.

After a brief pause.

" Now the 1st Cavalry division and JSDF's fourth Airborne combat unit will be sent as the air component of the reinforcements we will be sending. Col. Romanov's Combat Group _Beta_ will be following them close behind. we are going to relieve the city from attacking bandits and garrison Italica and form a FOB. Our top priorities are to defend the city and also to secure this region for our further operations. With the city under our control, we will be controlling the important trade highway of the empire and cutting off communication between the Germania and her allies in South and Southeast. We will also finally be able to find out what happened to our people brought here through the gate.

"Any questions ?"

Col. Romanov raised his hand.

"General, I need your permission to take the British military music band with me."

"Why is that Colonel ?" Brigadier Smith asks.

"Brigadier if we are going to take control of the city we are going to do it with a victory parade. As a matter of fact, I haven't brought my own musical band I would like to borrow yours," he replies with a smile.

"Yes, you can Colonel. Yes, you can." Smith replies back.

" Gentlemen, we have Imperial nobility in the city, By the show of our military might and our real war waging capabilities we will be trying to persuade them it is better to negotiate rather than fight a costly war. And about the Band, you also have my permission Col. Romanov. Show them that we are not some barbarian rabble from the other side of the gate but a well-disciplined professional fighting force under UN banner from a much more advanced and civilized world that they ever saw and met before."

"Dismissed."

* * *

Italica, West gate

18:46 PM

The soldiers of RCT 3 were setting up firing positions and setting up sandbags on top of the wall, just over the gate.

The Marder APC had positioned itself right in front of the gate with its 20 mm cannon pointing right at the broken gate now stuffed with wooden furniture and other wooden stuff to form a barricade. Right behind it some of the soldiers were helping the militia and fixing the wooden barricade which acted as the second line of defense. The girls along with Cato have already been moved to the Formar mansion for safety reasons. Cato insisted on staying, but Itami denied as he was still a non-combatant and he wouldn't allow a civilian under his position to risk their lives.

"Monsieur, with all due respect we are basically acting as the meat shields for that red-headed knight captain. With no support we might be overrun by those bandits out there we are outnumbered 10 to 1 here. I guarantee that she must have instructed her men to strip our dead after the battle for our weapons and equipment." Sergeant Beaman said visibly irritated.

"I understand how you feel Sergeant, but that is not going to be the case. We already have extinguished all the fire that showed this gateway to be defended. With the NVGs we will be leading them into a trap. That's the reason why I positioned our only IFV in front of the gate. Anything crosses through would be met with the heavy machine gun and 20mm cannon fire. Plus the base has been notified of our situation and the reinforcements will be on the way."

"Who are they sending sir ?"

"The American 1st Cavalry, JSDF airborne combat group and the Combat Group Beta consisting elements from the Germans, Canadians, Russians and Indians tanks and troops, they will be arriving to reinforce us soon. They will be garrisoning the town and will establish a FOB for our further operations. We just have to hold out until they are here."

Just as Arran finished explaining Beaman, Itami walks towards him.

"Everything is set up Arran, we are ready for anything that comes beyond the wall."

"RCT3 4-1 to RCT3 4-5, is everything is ready? over."

"This is RCT3 4-5 to 4-1. Everything ready here over." Cpl. Cardwell reports from the east gate.

"Affirmative 4-5, do you need anything else ? over."

"4-1, the only thing I need is to someone tell these overdressed bunch here to stop glaring daggers at me like I am gonna blow a hole in the walls myself, over."

"Just Ignore them and continue your mission, over."

"Roger that over and out."

* * *

Italica, East gate, August 31, 2019.

3:30 AM

It was already midnight, there was still no sign of the Brigand army. The sunrise was drawing closer and the widow of a night attack along with it. Cardwell kept up his guard as he patrolled on the walkway on the wall and keeping vigilant watch of his surroundings. A woman walked past him who was offering water to the militiamen guarding on the wall. He looks down to see numerous bonfires illuminating the dark night of the special region. He looks up to the beautiful twin moons of this world.

'The moons are the proof that we are in a different world rather than travelled back in time to medieval Europe.' He thought to himself.

From the time he arrived at the walls the morale of the militiamen are at the peak. They considered him and his comrades as heroes who stood an impossible force. Some of them even tried to share their food with him, which he politely declined.

The only people those kept distance from him were the high mighty overdressed knights. They were of two different groups. One those were with light armour and had blue uniforms with a blue hat. These guys looked like the ones from the Three Musketeers movie he watched a considerable time ago. They were armed with swords and some of them even had wands attached to their hips. The other group was the one that had the overall command of the defences. They were donned with highly decorated ornamental armour and capes. These were the guys who most of the time glared daggers at him. According to the info the ones with blue hats were the Knights from a neighbouring Kingdom called Tristain. They are here to help their Germanian allies The Rose order. It was really a peculiar name for a knight order, but when commanded by a woman of a very young age, like this names are predictable.

All around him men were slowly falling asleep. Much more were barely keeping their eyes open. For making matters worse he himself was falling asleep too.

He put down his Famas assault rifle on the walkway and began stretching his hands and legs. He decided to sit down on the ground to rest his legs for a while. When his eyes fell upon figures getting out of the bushes. He didn't realize who and what are they until dozens of bright red dots appeared in the group. The dots began to fly in the sky towards the wall.

One landed next to him. It was a burning arrow. Some of them were able to hit their mark, killing some unsuspecting militiamen.

One of the Knights began to yell, alerting all the guards on the wall along with the barricades on the ground that acted as a secondary line of defence on the ground.

He armed his Famas rifle and began returning fire picking up men running towards the wall holding ladders and heavy shields. As they began to fall down dead by his fire they were soon replaced by their comrades those who picked the ladders up and kept their advance on the wall. The militia also fired their arrows and crossbow bolts at the oncoming bandits, but with little success.

As He reloaded a fresh clip into his rifle he heard loud sounds of muskets being fired on the wall. He quickly took cover behind the wall. But some of the defenders were cut down by the musket volley along with one of the Tristain knights who had exposed himself for sending his magical attacks through his sword.

Cardwell got up and started running along the wall towards the gate when the second rain of burning arrows fell upon him. He tried to dodge some of them and was successful. He started to yell through his radio.

"This is RCT3 4-5 to all elements, East gate is under attack! I repeat the East gate is under attack! requesting assistance over."

But nothing came back. Hell, his radio was even not working. He slowly looked back to find miraculously an arrow had hit his back and had struck on the radio rendering it out of order. His radio saved his life but at the cost of being isolated from the rest of his platoon.

As he fired another burst towards the attacking brigands he heard a loud screeching noise in the air. He face turned pale, he knew this sound, he heard it before when they were defending the Coda villagers days ago. This was the roar of a dragon and it was coming from the side of the brigands.

To be continued

* * *

This chapter was getting too big so I have decided to divide into two parts. This is the longest chapter I have written so far and it will be not the last.

 _Don't forget to review._

 _Stay tuned for next chapter : Battle of Italica pt II_


	10. 9 Battle For Italica PtII

**Guys, Peacekeeper is back with another chapter. Enjoy.**

* * *

 **-9 Battle for Italica. Pt II**

Italica, East gate, August 31, 2019.

3:35 AM

Norma was commanding the militia and a few Tristain Griffon knights on the top of the wall.

"Do not let up men, Keep those brigand scum from gaining a foothold on the wall." He yells

Beside and around him the members of the city's militia kept on raining down arrows on the attacking bandits. They weren't very effective but were enough to pin the bandits down. Several ladders were raised on the wall only to be kicked back by the defenders. The few bandits those were able to gain a foothold on the wall were quickly decimated by the knights and the militia.

" You !" he said pointing towards a soldier.

" Go and warn the countess and Captain Pina in the mansion the East gate is under attack. "

The man nods and began running towards the Formar mansion.

Out in the heat of the battle, Norma suddenly heard the noise of several muskets being fired rapidly. He looked to his right in amazement to see the outworlder soldier who had been posted alongside him on the wall began to fire through his strange but powerful rapid-fire musket, tearing through the attacking brigands trying to scale the walls. He was literally holding a section of wall by himself alone.

Just then one of the militia yells.

"Musketeers! take cover..."

Norma quickly ducks behind the wall. But the Griffon knight who was out in the open was shot through his head. He tumbled down on the walkway. Blood pouring down through his wound.

Standing up he chants a spell and sends a fireball at a group of converging bandits burning them alive.

The defenders those have survived the volley fire got back on their feet and began launching their arrows and bolts again.

The bandits tried again and again but they failed on every instance on gaining and holding a section of the wall. They kept on losing more men on their every attempt.

"Fire arrows! take cover."

Norma took cover again along with other defenders those were without shields.

When Norma got up he saw the outworlder running towards him with an arrow stuck on his back and his musket towards the bandits which he kept on firing in bursts hitting a few of them.

Suddenly he heard the unmistakable screeching of a dragon coming from the far side of the Brigand lines.

The outworlder stopped meters away from him, as his face turned pale.

As the fight continued on another roar of a dragon was heard. This time it was much louder than before. As if the bandits were on its command, they halted their attack and began to fall back several meters away from the wall. Leaving their dead and wounded lying on the ground. They quickly reformed themselves into a parade formation. The fighting came to an abrupt end. Now the two sides stared at each other with hate brimming on their faces.

Then through the night sky, Norma saw the unmistakable silhouettes of three dragons forming up on top of the brigand formation.

"Why are those dragon riders are with the brigands ?" he asked to himself.

The sight of not one but three dragons in front of them sent chill down the spines of many defenders. They had expected to fight bandits with swords, shields not powerful dragons riders on the bandit's side. The city also clearly lacked an effective way to fight a dragon head on.

" Ohh.. no, they have dragons on their side, we are doomed. "

" The city is lost. We can't fight against those beasts"

" Isn't only the noble knights have possession of the dragons. They must be having mages on their side. " a defender yelled in fear. Sending more panic among the members of the militia as the high morale they had before began to plummet very fast.

" Rogue and fallen nobles. " Norma spat. " These were the only ones who were left to join the honourless brigands."

"Sire we will not be able to hold against those dragons. "

"Keep heart men, Until the rose order knights are here nothing even a dragon shall be able to touch Italica," Norma said as he tried to keep the militia from abandoning the wall.

He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, he looks back to see the outworlder standing right behind him. His pale and scared face he saw before has already been turned back into of a seasoned soldier.

" We need help, we will not be able to hold this wall alone."

"Can't you contact your men on the west gate with you magical communication box."

"No I can't, it is damaged." Cardwell points towards his back. " An arrow struck right in the center of it, saved my life but at the cost of losing communication with my men. And for your information, it is called a radio, not a magical box."

Norma nods and turns towards inside the wall and starts to yell at a group of militiamen waiting for the battle.

"You there send one of your fast runners to alert the green guardians at the west gate and ask them to send men to reinforce the East. "

" A dragon is coming forward." A militia warned.

True to his word a large dragon along with its rider came forward from the waiting formation of dragons those were maintaining their position on top of the Brigand army. It began to slow down and hover just a few feet away from the wall. Numerous bonfires on top of the wall illuminated the dragon and its rider who was donned in a black intimidating armour.

Norma's eyes widened as he noticed the dragon was of a different breed, the ones those were used by the Imperial Fists. The rider was also in the jet black coloured armour of an Imperial fist with a pair of muskets dangling on his back. Norma and the outworlder soldier in both shock and awe were soon joined by Napoleon who was leading the men inside the wall in Pina's absence.

He clearly heard the grumbling of the outworlder who cursed in Tristainia tongue with a very different accent.

" Murdering bastards, I thought we dealt with them all."

The militia aimed their bows and crossbows towards the dragon and its rider ready to unleash everything they had on him.

"Hold men, do not fire until you are ordered to." Norma orders.

The dragon rider slowly took off his helmet and placed it right under his arms, revealing a man in mid-30s. He had a long scar on his left cheek. " Germanian Knights," he yelled on top of his voice. " I am Commander Noldid from the Imperial Fists, Serpent company. I am here by the order of his majesty Emperor Albert to burn the Province of Formar to the ground to deny the outworlder its resources and prevent the further incursion of their army. I would like to ask for your order to leave the city immediately and head back to the capital or Join us in our endeavour to save the whole of Germania."

The militia started to look towards Norma for what reply he was going to give.

" We are here to protect this city and her people. We wi..." Napoleon tries to reply for him but was soon interrupted by Noldid.

" I didn't ask you, you Tristanian pig dog. So keep your mouth shut."

There was a brief silence and then.

Norma looked right into Noldid eyes and said

"No !"

"Eh... What ?"

" No Commander Noldid, We have pledged our honour to protect this city and we Rose Order Knights will defend this city to our last dying breath if we have to. We will not taint our honour by your dishonourable and barbaric ways. " Norma says as he points his finger towards Noldid.

Noldid as if expecting this kind of reply puts up a maniacal smile on his face and says. "Very well noble knight. I see you put these lowly commoners and your honour before your own life. When this city is burned to the ground I will gladly put your head along with your friends on display on the top of the wall to show those people commoner or noble fool enough to stand against us and the Emperor's will."

He turns his graze towards Cardwell. " Even these Green Guardians will be helpless against my fists as we will plough through your puny defences before the sunrise."

Putting back his helmet on and fly back towards the Brigand formation. A few moments later, they heard the sound of a trumpet being played as a signal for attack. The brigand's musketeers and archers without any delay began hammering down on the defenders as the infantry charged ahead with ladders to scale the wall.

"Captain Napoleon, you must return back to the barricades, you are needed there. I will take care of the walls."

Napoleon nods and climbs down the wall through the staircase back to the second line of defence.

Men began to fall right and left by relentless musket fire. Arrows pierced through many as they tried to return fire or dislodge the ladders those were used by bandits to scale on the walls. To make matter worse one of the Fists now joined the fray. His dragon released his fire breath on a section of the wall as it flew over it, Burning the defenders to crisp and created a massive gap on that section. The bandits soon used this opportunity to scale the wall through that section and gained a firm foothold on the wall. The defenders engaged them but they were soon been pushed back by the better-trained ex-soldiers. Cardwell fired his rifle towards the bandits cutting several of them down and then fired at the dragon which was now coming for another attack run, It was able to burn several more defenders along with a few bandits those were locked in combat on the right section.

Surprisingly the Dragon refrained from engaging the defenders inside the wall.

"We are taking too much loses, the wall is lost, we must fall back," Cardwell yelled as he pushed a fresh clip into his rifle.

Norma sliced another bandit with his sword and answered.

" Even if they have dragons and those dishonourable fists on their side we will prevail. " tiring to raise the fledging morale of his troops as they began to fall at the combined might of the attacking bandits and the Fist dragon.

Though he had mustered enough courage to say that, deep down inside he was scared like hell. He not only makes himself and his allies enemies with the Fists but with the most ferocious of them all, the Serpent company. He prayed to the founder for the hasty arrival of the reinforcements before the East wall falls.

* * *

( Brigand Lines )

Noldid watched as one of his men as commanded joined the Brigand assault. After the swift execution of the bandit commander Solvin by his own hands for failing to breach the walls in their first assault he gave the command of the Brigands to his adjacent.

Now the defenders were in chaos. The Brigands now motivated by the promise of a full pardon if they take the city began their second assault with a renewed vigour. They had now gained several footholds on the key locations on the wall. After one of his dragon riders joined the fray the defences on the wall began to crumble. The untrained militia men those were only able to stall the brigand attacks now were being overwhelmed and were struck with panic as his dragon rider attacks literally wiped out large sections of defenders on the walls creating massive gaps on several key sections for the bandits to exploit. As specifically instructed before his man kept his field of attack only to the men on the top of the wall.

"With all due respect sire, why do you send only one of our men to join the brigands? why not send us all and finish the fight once and for all." one of his men asked.

"Hmmm.. Haven't I promised these bandits that if they help me to burn this city to the ground they will be granted a full pardon and will be allowed to rejoin the army."

"Yes Sire, you have."

"Then you must understand if they are craving for a pardon from me they had to pay it with their own blood. I was not planning to let one of my fists join the assault but when I tried to reason with that idiotic Honour drove knight, I saw of those legendary Green guardians on the top of the wall. Their involvement changes everything. I will limit our unit's involvement to fronts where these Green guardians will appear. As you see there is one of them on the top of the wall so we attack the wall. If there are more in the town we will attack those locations. The commoners and the knights will be dealt with by our bandit friends. Are you clear?"

"Yes, Sire."

"Good, now enjoy the show," Noldid said as he returns to graze upon the burning walls of Italica with a crooked smile on his face.

* * *

Italica, West Gate.

Arran walked on the walkway keeping an eye on the outline ridge for any lurking bandits. Half of his squad were asleep including some of Itami's men.

Itami walks towards him and asks.

"Anything you see Arran ?"

"Nope, except for those scouts we saw an hour ago, I haven't noticed any kind of movement down there." He replies.

"Sir, do you think they will attack today ?"

"I don't know Higara, I don't really know. We did everything we could to present this position as a vulnerable weak spot to attack. The fire is put out which means we are in pitch black which is limiting visibility of the defenders. For the bandits, it will be a good opportunity to attack and take the gateway."

"If their commander is an idiot, he will attack this gate. " Arran points out.

"Eh.."

"If I was their commander I would never attack this gate. This place reeks a smell of a trap and a seasoned and competent army commander would notice it pretty fast. Our position is just begging them to attack which could raise suspicion among their commanding ranks and they would avoid taking any risks when they are in a tight spot for limited man power."

"They are just dumb band..." Higara was interrupted by Arran

"They are not some dumb bloodthirsty foolish bandits, private but trained soldiers from the imperial army we annihilated about a month ago. They know what to do and what not to in a situation like this." Arran explained

"Yes, sir."

"Good, now back to your post."

Higara turns and returns back to his designated position on the wall.

"Hey Arran, do you mind if I may catch a little shut eye ?"

"No worries Itami go on take a nap I will be on guard."

As Itami sat down on the walkway to have a little rest and if possible a small nap. He heard something, it was like a burst of automatic fire coming from the East gateway. He stands up quickly and turns towards Arran who was standing a few paces away from him.

"Arran, did you hear that ?"

"What ?"

"I think I heard gunshots coming from the east wall."

" I think your ears are ringing due to exhaustion."

"Wait. be quiet"

Arran along with Itami tries their best to hear something. At first, it was nothing then they heard nearly faint noises of an assault rifle being fired. Soon after they heard this time clearly a musket volley being fired.

"Damn it, you are right. Beaman wakes everyone up I think the East gate is under attack."

Beaman went on individually waking up sleeping soldiers and those were on the verge of dosing up, and even yelled in Kuribayashi ears forcing the poor woman to jump as she looked like she was a very good dream in her sleep.

Arran quickly grabbed his radio and tried to contact Cardwell.

"RCT3 4-5 this is RCT3 4-1, what's your status over."

He only heard the loud buzzing sound.

Arran and Itami looked at each other.

"RCT3 4-5, come in over."

"RCT3 4-5, respond! over."

"RCT3 4-5, Cardwell, can you hear me, Please respond over."

The only reply he got was the buzzing sound.

At this time the noise of fighting had stopped.

"Boss, do you think they repelled the attack," Kurata asked.

"Even if they did repel the attack we still have one of our men stationed out there not responding. Get ready to move."

Suddenly they heard a man running towards them and yelling at the top of his voice.

"East Gate is under attack !, East gate is under Attack !. they have dragons along with them."

Muller who was on the ground ran towards the man and offered his water canteen who was had fallen to his knees and was trying to catch his breath.

"What did you say ?" he asks.

"The east gate, sire, The Bandits are attacking the east gate. We halted their first two attacks with ease but now they have dragons among their ranks."

Muller's eyes widen.

" _Herr Leutenants_." he yells towards Arran and Itami... " We have dragon mounted bandits attacking the wall."

" Ohh Fuck. we are screwed." Carter cursed.

" Tomita, Kuribayashi and Higara get into the Jeep we are going towards the East gate." Itami orders. "Old man, can you take care of here ?"

"Don't worry sir, nothing shall pass through here."

"Great."

On the other hand, Arran was ordering his men to mount up.

" Carter, Muller and James into the Humvee. Kalb gets back into your IFV and follow us ASAP we have a dragon situation on the East wall. Also, contact the HQ and inform them the east gate is under attack, not the west."

"Jawohl."

Itami's Light truck came to life as it left first leaving towards the east gate with a trail of dust. Soon to be followed by Arran's Humvee.

As they just went past the corner towards the gate they soon found the road blocked.

Itami pressed the brake peddle hard to stop his speeding truck from a third barricade which had been erected without their knowledge. Arran's Humvee comes to a halt behind him.

"Bloody hell, when the Fuck, did they put that here," Arran yells in anger as he got out of his Humvee.

"They must have barricade set up in this position in secret after we had gone to defend the West Gate," Itami replies.

Right in front of them was a large mound of furniture and wooden articles blocking their path and behind it was a large wooden barricade. Muller walks and slides his hand on the top of a broken table which is used on the barricade.

" _Herr Leutenant_ , These are soaking in oil. A single spark and we will be having a burning barricade blocking this path."

"That redhead must have been expecting an attack on the West wall. She must have predicted that though we have superior firepower we would have been overwhelmed by the numerical overwhelming Brigands, and she would be fighting her decisive battle here against a battered Brigand force here." Itami said.

"And steal our weapons and equipment for their use." James added.

"Carter, did you find someone out there ?" Arran asks

"No Sir, they must have redeployed the militia guarding this barricade to reinforce their lines at the east gate." Who replies from the other side of the barricade.

"Sir, there is a shit load Barrels of oil present here."

'She must have been planning to cut out retreat along with bandits advance deep into the city by literally keep the burning barricade lit up as long as possible' Arran thought.

As they stood there the noise of fighting and firing of muskets could be heard again.

"Muller any reception from the East gate yet ?"

" _Kein leutnant_ , I am getting nothing from Cardwell."

"Damn it. When this is all over and if we survive then that girl is going to have of a piece of my mind."

A few seconds later Kalb arrives with his Marder. He sticks his head out of his IFV's copula. Observing the present situation he says.

"Sir, I don't think our Humvees would be able to cross this barricade without receiving any damage. Hop in and we will be off to the east gate."

Without further delay, the back of the Marder opens up.

"James and Tomita stay here and take care of the vehicles. Others get in, we are hitching a ride in Kalb's cab." Arran orders.

He looks towards the smoke rising from the east and hears cries of men fighting a desperate battle in between the roar of a dragon and firing of an assault rifle could be heard as he enters the troop compartment of the IFV.

"All aboard."

The rear hatch closes off.

"Let's move out."

The IFV ploughs through the barricade with ease and moves forward towards the raging battle.

* * *

UNTF Fort Endurance, Special Region, August 31, 2019.

2:30 AM ( Earth Time).

Combat group Beta under Col. Romanov was now fully prepared to leave. The Tanks were leading at the front, IFVs, APCs along with three 2K22 Tunguska self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon were added after new info on the dragons being used by the Brigands was received were at the rear with the trucks carrying troops and supplies.

Romanov was in his BMP 3K command APC in the middle of the formation as was going through the final preparation for the operation. He picked up his radio and contacted Col. Morrison from the First Air Cavalry.

"This is Beta actual to Hunter actual we are ready to move. What your status over."

On the airfield, the JSDF troopers were mounting into their Huey along with the US First Cavalry soldiers entering their Black Hawks. The overall command of this unit was in the experienced hands of Col. Morrison who already been through four tours of Afghanistan. Col. Kengun wanted the post of the commander but he was turned down by General Hazama due to his lack of combat experience.

The air was now filled with the sound of the rotor blades spinning as several pilots started their machines.

"Sir." Morrison's radio operator said. "Beta actual is ready to move and is asking for our status."

Morrison took the radio into his hands and replied.

"Beta actual this is Hunter actual we are also nearly set we will be in the air in five mikes. You may proceed we will catch up soon. over"

"Solid copy, Hunter actual, Good luck out."

"You too Beta actual. over and out.

Morrison gives back the radio to its operator and began walking towards his black Hawk waiting for him.

On the other side after receiving the confirmation Romanov then asks his operator to change its frequency and orders.

"This is Beta actual to all Beta elements, move out"

As ordered the formation began to advance through the Endurance main gate and to the road leading towards the city of Italica.

 **( Refugee camp)**

Many sleeping refugees woke up from their slumber as they heard a large rumbling noise. Many soon gathered at the fence and near the gate of their camp and looked in awe as several iron carriages and Iron beasts roll past their camp entrance towards an unknown location.

"Someone must have angered these people." one of the refugees said.

"Whoever did that is going to be in a lot of pain." another one commented.

They then looked up to see several of those flying dragons of this army were flying over their head. They were flying very low as they could clearly see the people inside them. Some of them even waving towards them as they fly through.

"Sire, could you say where are your people are going ?" a refugee asked an American soldier guarding at the camp's entrance.

"We received information that the city of Italica was under siege by a bandit army. So our command decided to send a relief force to the city," he replied.

Knowing full well what this army could do the refugee said to himself. "Those bandits are going to be in really a lot of death and pain."

* * *

Italica, East gate

The situation on the walls has already turned from bad to worse. The militia was in a state panic and was being cut to pieces by the bandits. The dragon had turned many brave men to crisp and the noble officer on the wall had gone nuts. This man instead of falling back ordered the militia to holdfast, he preferred death before facing dishonour by running away from his post without orders from his commander. All the knights from Tristain those were on the wall had already fallen in the battle.

At first, Cardwell tried to reason with this man and tried to convince him to abandon the wall as it was already lost, but it was to no avail. He looks down to see the militia at the barricades weren't moving an inch to help them nor the orders to fall back arrived.

"We are being used as sacrificial pawns for providing time for rest of the defenders to form up and wear down the enemy as much as they can before being overwhelmed." He thought to himself.

"We can't hold this position much longer. I am falling back if you want to live to fight another day then follow me." Cardwell yelled in French.

"Coward." Norma the Knight cursed.

Giving not much heed to his words, now running low on ammo and with no chance of contact rest of his platoon, he decided it was time to fall back to the barricades alone if he has to. Drawing his sidearm and firing at the advancing bandits and killing several of them he sprints down the staircase towards the barricades. The last remaining defenders saw one of the Green Guardians falling back, their last bit of morale broke and they also began falling back and joined Cardwell's mad dash to safety.

On the Barricades, Napoleon along with now arrived Pina who was on her horseback saw the battle unfold. The Defenders on the wall were being slaughtered by the Bandits and those were able to make a stand were soon burned by the dragon's fire breath. The whole plan to encompass the out-worldly soldiers on the West gate by forming a burning barricade failed miserably. Not only the Brigands invaded the East gate instead of west sending the plan to gutters, they now have the full support of the elite Imperial fist those are hell-bent on destroying this city. Nearly all of his men he brought with him were dead or wounded. He was the only Tristanian left standing along with the city defenders.

"Captain, what we do now ?" He asked only to find Pina's widened eyes were fixated on the top of the walls.

"It fell so easily." She said. "I had no idea reality could be so different from one's plan."

"Captain Pina."

"I don't know, what to do. "

"Look someone is coming towards us." A militia said as he pointed towards a group of men running towards them. They were led by the outworlder soldier who was on the wall some time ago.

They quickly jumped over the barricade. The militiamen were panting tired of fighting and the running as for the outworlder he was un flinched by the ordeal and looked like was reloading his weapon. Napoleon walks towards him.

"Where is Norma?" he asks worriedly about the young knight's fate.

"I think he is still on the top of the wall."

"What !" Pina jumps down from her horse and strides towards Cardwell. Holding him by his collar she yells at him at the top of her voice.

"Why did you leave him behind? Why did you run away from your post, do you have no honour?"

Cardwell in return pushes her back.

" The wall is a lost cause, we were taking too many casualties, I tried to reason with that fool, but for his bloody _honneur ..._ he wanted to continue. I choose the only viable course of action in my path. I fell back with the surviving militiamen those were able to grasp the current situation."

Pointing towards the burning wall."You know, you already have lost most of your archers on the top of the wall, because that fool considered _honneur_ over precious human lives. You should be glad that I brought back as many men as possible to strengthen our barricades here."

Pina tries to reply back but she was interrupted when a brigand shouted from the top of the wall.

"ENEMY COMMANDER IS DEAD, THE GATEWAY IS OURS."

* * *

Top of the East Wall

(5 minutes earlier)

"Cowards." Norma yelled at the outworlder and the few militiamen running from the wall.

The sudden rout of some of the militia left the whole right flank open to the brigands, who were now pouring on the walls.

Norma along with a few brave men held the ground

"Holdfast men, fight to your last breath."

He swung his sword at one of his attackers slicing the head clean off his body. The headless body tumbled down on the walkway.

He then blocks attacks from two other bandits with his sword. He shoves one off the wall and kills the other by thrusting his sword through the gap in the bandit's armour.

Watching their comrades being taken down by the knight, bandits those were facing Norma locked their shields together forming a shield wall. He fell back a few steps after trying vainly to break the shield wall.

From years of training as a fire mage, Norma knew using fire attacks on opponents too close will be dangerous to the user as well. Nevertheless, he decides to take his chances and drew his wand to cast a spell on the bandits.

"Die you brigand scum." he cursed and began to chant a spell but when suddenly he felt a sharp chilling pain. He slowly looks down to see the sharp tip of a sword sticking out through abdomen and blood began to pour through his wound. He began to coughs blood and his shaking hands gave away dropping both the sword and the wand. His attacker kicks him on to the ground drawing his sword out.

He began to slowly lose consciousness due to blood loss.

"ENEMY COMMANDER IS DEAD, THE GATEWAY IS OURS." the bandits began to cheer. The last of the militia and the sentries on the wall were hacked to pieces.

"I should have taken that outworlder's advice to retreat." he lamented before closing his eyes.

 **( Present)**

Bandits on the ground were now opening the large doors letting the rest of their men in. The bandits charged at the barricades and melee was now taking place between the barricade and the gate.

"Don't let them cross the barricade," she yelled trying to coordinate the hopelessly outmatched defenders from behind the barricade. Napoleon had jumped across the barricade and was locked in close combat. Cardwell kept the pressure on by firing pot shots at intervals behind the barricade trying his best not to harm any of the friendly militia.

The battle was getting worse at every passing second, then one of the imperial fist dragons flew past the wall and began to hover overshadowing the battle going down below. It left out a heart-wrenching roar, filling hearts of all the defenders with fear. In an instant, their morale fell to all-time low and their lines began to weaver.

"Hold the line, do not fall back," Pina yelled

The dragon roared again, this time sending Pina's steed to panic in fear. She tried to control it but it was to no avail, she fell down from her horse on to the ground. The panic-stricken horse ran away towards the opposite direction, leaving Pina on the ground. Massaging her back she tried to get up only to look right into the eyes of the dragon staring at her. The dragon's predatorial eyes sent chills down her spine, with fear of death she froze unable to move a single muscle.

"Get out of there !" Cardwell yelled trying to get her attention. He could clearly see the horrified face of a girl who thought herself to be a mighty and brave commander some time ago.

He tried to fire his rifle at the dragon only to hear the distinctive *click* sound of his rifle now out of ammo. He moves his hand on the ammo pouches finding nothing but empty rifle magazines. He was nearly out of ammo except for a single pistol mag, no grenades and his bayonet.

Noticing him distracted a bandit tried to land a hit on him. Cardwell dodges it and uses his rifle's butt smashes the bandit's face knocking him out. He fixes his bayonet to his Famas and began to engage in close combat with other charging bandits, now being unable to help Pina.

Pina's eyes began to tear up.

'So my death is here, I am going to die a death of a coward who is unable to move in fear of death rather than falling in glorious battle as a knight.' She thought.

'Mother I apologize for not being able to live up to your expectations in leading the Rose knights you established and live up to fill up my brother's position as the Captain of this order.'

The Dragon open's its mouth to release its dragon breadth. Pina closes her eyes in anticipation of impending doom by being burned alive and the feeling of the sensation of intense heat at any moment.

But, it never came, instead, the air was filled with the painful screeching of a dragon and the noise of a cannon being fired consecutively at once. She opened her eyes to the see the dragon was trying in vain to fly away as his mount was being hit by yellow light bolts.

The dragon unable to too much damage tumbled down on the ground crashing into one of the buildings at the right. But its rider sensing his rider's demise jumped and landed inside the barricade. Before the black armoured knight was able to draw his sword he was suddenly riddled with holes, he fell on the ground dead blood pouring out of his lifeless body.

Arran reloaded his rifle after he used a whole magazine on the black knight.

Itami and Kuribayashi ran past Arran checking the scared Knight on the ground. Muller, Carter and Higara took a position on the barricade and began providing covering fire for the militia. Kalb's IFV held its fire on the bandits in front of the barricade in fear of hitting friendlies.

"Are you all right ?" Itami asked.

"I thought I was going to die," Pina replied. Kuribayashi picked her up back to her feet.

"What's the situation out here ?"

"It's a _Putain de_ mess."

Itami turns back to see Cardwell walking towards him holding a bloodied sword in his hand. He had already lost his rifle and was covered with cuts and bruises.

"The line is barely holding, thanks to your timely arrival the bandits are falling back."

True to his word the bandits steadily falling back out through the gate. The fall of the dragon and arrival of more of the UNTF soldiers broke their morale. The Militia maintained their position, falling back as ordered by Napoleon and holding their side of the barricade. The ground between the gate and the barricade was littered with hundreds of dead and wounded of both militia and bandits.

"You ok soldier ?"

"Just scratches, sir. I just need a new rifle and a sidearm. Lost both of them out there. The armourer is going to be really pissed. hehehe." he chuckled.

Arran drew his pistol from his holster and handed it to Cardwell with spare ammo.

"Sorry, you have to make do with these. I don't think we have any additional weapon right now."

" _Merci!_ _le Monsieur_ better than this rusty sword I picked up from a dead brigand. The fencing lessons I took during my school days really paid off today."

"Thanks to the Founder, you all arrived, If weren't for you taking out that dragon, we would surely have lost the gateway," Napoleon said.

He was in a better condition than Cardwell due to his sturdy armour.

"But I don't think we will be able to hold another assault." He said grimly.

Before Itami could reply, they heard the dragons roar again, this time it was louder. Four dragons flew high above the gateway, looking down upon their recently arrived pry. Their Imperial fist riders were itching for a payback of them for their lost comrade and the humiliation they faced for their first known defeat.

"Damn it, now there are four of them," Carter said.

The Marder IFV's MK 20 Rh 202 autocannon turned its attention towards the flying dragons and began firing 20 mm cannon rounds at them in short bursts. The Dragons facing incoming fire broke formation and scattered in all four directions. IFV's cannon tried to keep up with the dragons but they were too many and bit faster than the cannon's turret could move. Its fire was only able to keep away the dragons from coming too close to the ground to cause any harm to the UNTF troops and the town's militia on the ground.

"Here they come again," Carter yelled amidst the loud noise of IFV's cannon fire pointing towards the bandits those now entering again through the gate this time led by Imperial fists at the front.

"And the big black baddies are leading them."

"Then what are you waiting for picking your targets and open fire do not let them through," Arran ordered

UNTF troops opened fire on the advancing bandits cutting several of them down but some of the fists used they magical powers in forming a thick layer of ice shields enough to stop 5.56 mm rounds.

"The hell bullets aren't getting through," Higara said.

" _Das ist schlecht"_

"What !"

"This is bad." Muller translated.

While the UNTF troops kept up their fire on the combined assault by the fists and the bandits on the ground and the IFV firing at the dragons in the air, the militia and the surviving knights held their position behind them.

"Should we help them ?" a militiaman asked.

"No, we will only come in their way," Napoleon replied.

Finally, IFV's guns were able to shoot down one of the dragons from the sky. The dead corpse of the dragon crash landed in the middle of the city, as per the rider he was also hit by the 20 mm rounds and fell from the sky to his death, landing somewhere in the town.

Slowly but surely the fists were advancing towards the barricade. Itami pulled the pin from his grenade and threw it towards the fists shields.

"Fire in the hole."

The grenade exploded severely weakening the shield.

"Now is the time, nail those bastards."

The bullets tore through the shield hitting the fists and the bandits. The heavy medieval armour of the fists was no match for the multiple full metal jacket rounds. Their armour was punctured at multiple locations and they tumbled on the ground. The five leading fists lost their lives even before they were able to do any damage. The morale of the bandits reached all-time low. On the background, the sun rose on the horizon and its light glittered the horizon.

Observing the bandits halting their advance at the sight of their commander's death, Arran decided that this was the time to go on the offensive.

"3rd Recon" he yelled. "Affix your bayonets and advance."

As ordered they fixed their bayonets and jumped over the barricade. Firing as they advanced, gunning down anyone trying to charge at them. The dragons returned and plunged towards the ground to burn them with their fire breath. Kalb's IFV reacted, its turret turned towards the dragons and opened fire. The 20 mm rounds pierced through the dragons like a hot knife through butter. The first flew over the ensuing battle and crash landed somewhere inside the merchant district. The second made a barrel roll and landed on the top of the land throwing many bandits off the wall. But the third did something unexpected. The rider turned its limping injured dragon towards Kalb's position for a suicidal attack.

" _Scheiße Treiber fallen zurück_ (Shit driver fall back)" Kalb ordered.

The IFV tried to go on the reverse to avoid the falling dragon, but the militiamen were blocking its path. Along with it, the sight of a charging dragon send panic among their ranks and they began to scatter all over the place for cover, making it impossible for driver Franz to manoeuvre without running them over. The dragon beeline towards the IFV and crashed on to it. The crash was so hard that it pushed the IFV right into a nearby building.

"Ohhh..." Kalb muttered shaking his head

" _Franz, Erwin ihr beiden seid in Ordnung_ ( both of you alright)"

" _ja"_ both of his crew men responded.

"It is good that our seat belts held," Franz commented.

"Damage report."

Going through their system Erwin says.

" _Herr Leutenant_ our engine is fine but our turret is not. It is not responding, I am afraid it might be out of action."

 _" Verdammt"_ he cursed.

"Okay we have no choice left, pick up your weapons we are joining the fight."

 _"Jawohl"_ they replied in unison.

Kalb and Erwin armed themselves with G36 assault rifles, while Franz armed himself with an MP7. The troop compartment hatch opened up as the turret was not working.

They got out with their weapons raised.

The militia surrounding the IFV and the fallen dragon. Some of the brave ones checking if the beast is alive or not by poking it with their spears backed off by the sudden opening of the troop compartment.

Kalb soon saw the extent damage the IFV received from the dragon. The front half was literally thrust into a nearby house on the left, the head of the dragon was resting on the IFV beside the turret, and by the looks of the damage, the turret had sustained by the collision. The dragon hit the side of the turret directly. It will not be working until it is back at the base for repairs.

Turning his attention towards the fighting at the barricades and noticing the inaction of the locals, he quickly waved at them to draw their attention and used his hand signs to follow him towards the barricade before running off along with his crewmen to join his comrades.

"What did the green guardian try to say to us ?" one militiaman said.

"I think he wanted us to follow him to join the battle." another replied.

"But what can do we do we have already lost too many."

"Are you all cowards." Percival the old Coda village chief yelled. "We might not be as good as those brigands or like those green guardians, but we can still support them in their fight and stop the ones trying to flank them and get past the barricade. They are just nine of them holding against a tide and this is own town for founder's sake, we cannot let them do all the fighting alone, while we sit here just being scared of those fists and their goons doing nothing. We must help them as much as we can."

The militia raised their weapons in approval. With a renewed vigour they rallied their ranks and with a battle cry of their own charged towards the barricade. As for Pina she stood there motionless watching as commoners taking over the command and for the first time in her life watching a commoner leading the charge.

" Captain Pina, what should we do now ?"

Coming back to her senses she said.

"What are we waiting for, join them, charge."

The knights drew their swords and wands and joined the commoners in their attack leaving Pina and Hamilton behind.

"We need to a good view of the battle," Pina said.

She along with Hamilton climbed on to a two storey building overlooking the gate.

Near the gate, Itami and his men held the brigands. They under Arran command formed a line and kept up their fire and had already inflicted heavy losses to the bandits. The bodies were pilling in front of them but the brigands kept up their attack.

Just minutes ago they lost their armour support to a kamikaze dragon, which had left them at a disadvantage at this point, with ammo burning up pretty fast, It will not be long they had to fall back and retreat towards the Mansion where as per instructed the rest of the team would be waiting for them for the last stand.

"Hold the line, I want controlled bursts only."

"Where are the reinforcements ?" Carter said as he downed another bandit with a crossbow.

"They will be here at any moment, we just need to hold a little longer," Arran assured.

At the very moment, Shino's rifle clicked signalling her she was out of ammo. A bandit charged at her. Instead of drawing her sidearm which was fully loaded, she decided counter charged towards him.

"Hey, wait, don't break the formation," Arran yelled at her.

But it was to no avail as Shino charged ahead blocked the swing of the sword from the bandit with her rifle and then kicked him in his shins. He staggered back, opening an opportunity for her to thrust her rifle bayonet into his unprotected neck. The blood spilt out of it as the man fell on the ground dead. For Shino, she just withdrew her rifle and charged at another two bandits engaging them in close combat. She ducked through another sword swing through the use of her short body and used her rifle's butt to hit him on his face. His companion tried to thrust his sword, only for her to skillfully move and dodge it and then slicing his neck through her bayonet. He falls down holding his neck as blood sprout through it.

Shino quickly reloads her weapon and then turned her attention towards next group of bandits waiting to be brought down hard.

Arran stood with the rest of the team watching Kuribayashi going full berserk mode on the brigands. She was good, better than him in close combat, but being too engrossed in fighting one enemy at a time that too alone meant leaving her flanks for an attack wide open. The danger of her being surrounded by a numerous enemy was going high at each passing second.

"That trigger happy idiot." Arran changes his stance for a charge.

"Assault forward, Itami guard our backs."

"Roger."

With that, the rest of the team minus Itami advanced to join Shino.

Arran fired his rifle killing a few then charged with his bayonet into another. Kicking his weapon out he blocked an attack with his rifle, shove his attack back and fired his weapon at a point-blank range. The bullet went through the brigand's armour and struck another who was standing right behind him. Muller fired from his rifle at full auto unloading his whole clip onto a bunch of bandits, then turning his rifle around and began cracking heads using it like a club. Carter pulled the pin out of his grenade and threw it on to a group of bandits trying to form up and assault Shino. The grenade exploded sending fragments and shrapnel all around killing and injuring a lot in the process. Higara stayed with Itami providing cover. On the other hand, Cardwell had gone full medieval. Dual wielding, his sword in his right and pistol in his left hand he engaged his attackers in full-blown close combat duels and by the skilful fencing techniques he cut through them, any bandit tried to flank him from behind during his duels was met with a 9mm bullet in his head.

"Jesus Christ, they are getting way too into this," he said watching the fighting unfold.

Just then, Itami saw Kalb and his crew had arrived at the barricade. They jumped over and joined him.

"You started the party without us," he commented.

"Nah, It is just the beginning." Itami replied back."I want you to provide covering fire. Don't let anyone get to their rear."

"Roger that." turning towards his crewmen. "You heard him, _Offenes Feuer._ "

As they begun to fire, Itami heard a battle cry coming from the rear, he looks back to see the militia those had retreated before on his orders was back and were coming to help them in the fight.

'If they join in then it will be a mess.' he thought 'militia engaging would only lead to more confusion. Identifying friend or foe would be a real pain in the ass.'

Itami turned around, jumped over the barricade and began waving his hand and yelling at them to stop in his broken Germanian tongue.

The militiamen stopped their charge.

"Green guardian, why did you stop us ? we are here to help you." the leading man said.

"I know that, but if go over and fight them, it will be harder for us to focus on the fight. I do not want to shoot any of you by mistake."

"But, but.."

Itami raised his hand.

"You can still help us, let us handle them at the gates, You lot man the barricades, kill anything that go past us. Are we clear ?"

"Yes, we understand," Percival stated.

"Good now man the barricades and let not a single bandit through."

"You heard him, forward."

Itami returned back to join Kalb in providing support. But suddenly a noise hit his ears.

"Did you hear that ?"

"What ?" Kalb asked while reloading his weapon.

Itami looked around, trying to determine its source in the midst of gunfire, exploding grenades, cries of men going against each other. Itami's ears began to pick up a faint melody. A song he heard ages ago, in an American war movie, he got to watch with his squad mates during his training days. It was distant at first, but slowly it got nearer and nearer along with the recognisable noises of helicopters rotating blades. The song was none other than the "Ride of the Valkyries."

"That," he said.

He quickly pulls out his flare gun and launches a flare into the air signalling his position.

* * *

 **(10 Minutes earlier)**

US First Cavalry and 4th Combat choppers soared through the sky towards the city of Italica. Three helicopters, an Apache followed a UH-1 and a Black Hawk were leading the group.

"Col. Morrison! , sir, 10 minutes to the objective."

Lt. Austin said. "According to reports we received from RCT 3, the East gate is breached and the defenders are engaged. The enemy is supported by dragon riders and heavy losses have already being inflicted on the defenders. Sir, I suggest we should approach from the East, clear the skies with our attack helicopters and wipe out the hostiles at the gate."

Morrison nodded and said. "Very well Austin, inform Col. Kengun and contact Combat group Beta and ask them about their present ETA from the objective. Tell them if they are late they will miss out all the fun."

"Yes sir," Austin replies

He informs Col. Kengun first and then contacts Combat group beta through the radio.

"Sir, Combat group Beta is 17 minutes away from the target," he informs.

"Good," Morrison replies.

Suddenly the radio crackles to life.

"This is Hunter 2-1 come in over." Kengun's voice is heard.

Morrison picks the radio up and pressed the receiver button.

"This is Hunter Actual, Over."

"Hunter Actual, requesting permission to play Wagner's Ride to Valkyries for the mood of the upcoming battle. We haven't installed those speakers on our choppers for nothing."

He quickly takes a glance at the amplifier and the loudspeakers he had installed on his chopper for the very same purpose. 'What a bloody coincidence.' he thought.

"Great, Hunter 2-1, we have also bought our own speakers," he looks towards Austin who gives him a thumbs up, ready to play Wagner at any moment."Are your speakers ready? over."

"Affirmative, Hunter actual."

"Great, Hunter 2-1 prepare to play on my mark."

"3 minutes." his pilot informs.

"3...2...1...Mark."

Both Austin and Lt. Youga Kengun's second in command switched on their amplifiers and pressed the on buttons simultaneously. Both of them turned the volume to its maximum.

The sound of the horns rang out.

The light sounds of woodwinds raced through the air, and the main theme commenced with the blaring of the trumpets. The song written in the honour of the eight Valkyries was amplified further by the speakers both from 4th Combat group and the 1st Cavalry.

The choppers positioned themselves to come in with the sun behind their back.

Troops began loading their weapons, door gunners flipping the safeties of their guns, preparing themselves for their first helicopter-borne attack in the history of the special region.

* * *

Italica, East Gate.

Blades and bayonets clashed against each other. Bullets piercing through flesh, blood spraying out.

Sounds of sword hit echoed. Shouts of men facing their doom and cries of suffering. RCT 3 held the bulk of brigand force but some of them were able to bypass them and began clashing with the militia at the barricade. They were pressed against each other everywhere. It was a utter chaos, nobody cared about anything except their enemy before them. They hacked, slashed with their swords and spears, bayoneted their enemies, firing from the hip at full auto. Occasionally some knight would launch a magical attack. The area echoed with gunfire whenever one of Itami's man discharged his or her weapon sometimes at point-blank range. Some people cowered on the ground, some tried to crawl away from the fighting, but they were trampled by their own or from the cavalry the brigands have just unleashed against the defenders.

The ground was covered with corpses, bodies, remains, discarded weapons and bullet casings. The stone floor dyed with red by the dried blood and brighter red with the blood of those recently spilt from the friend or foe alike.

It was why they couldn't hear the distant sound that thundered the air. It Itami who first recognised the sound out from all in between this chaos and launched a flare into the sky.

The sound got louder and louder when a song was heard in the air, accompanied by trumpets and trombones.

The attacking bandits and defending UNTF troops and militiamen could hear the song loud and clear. Out of a sudden, they saw a strange fireball being launched into the sky (Itami's flare). The fighting slowly began to die down as both confused bandits and defending militia and knights alike looked towards the sky for its source.

The bandits outside the walls of Italica were both petrified and confused by this. Noldid till now kept his fists from entering open combat with city's defenders and the out-worldly soldiers, except a few instances when some of his dragon riders entered into combat only to wiped out. Some of his men also acted as officers for the Bandits, they had till now kept them from running away from the battle. A few of his men were also killed while leading a charge against the outworlders.

Now with this new development, he didn't want to take any chances. After noticing some strange black figures appeared on the rising sun, flying towards them and were possible for this song, he ordered a detachment of his fists to get on their dragons and go on to have a look. As they flew towards the unknown flying objects suddenly one of the objects launched some strange arrow from its wing which flew towards the leading dragon with a trail of smoke. The dragon rider tried to dodge it, but that arrow didn't deviate from its target. It hit the leading dragon which exploded it to bits and forcing others to scatter.

"What !" Noldid yelled to his horror as simultaneously other dragons are shot down from the sky.

 **(UNTF side)**

"This is Jeagar leader to all. Flying bogies in range. Weapons free, weapons free. missile away."

2, Fired

3, missile away

4, Fired

5, Fired

In an instant 5 heat seeking missiles were launched from the five Apaches leading the group. They hit the dragons coming towards them and ended their lives with an explosion each.

"Targets are down. Switch to the ones those are sitting in that camp."

The Apaches along with AH-1 Cobras descended upon the Imperial fist camp. The fists were still trying to mount their dragons when their camp was hit by the string of Hydra rockets and cannon fire from the helicopters. Fists those were able to lift off from their camp were cut to bits by Apache's chain gun and Cobras 20 mm Gatling gun.

While the attack helicopters wrecked havoc in the imperial fist camp, the Black Hawks and the UH-1s flying at the nap of earth course with their loudspeakers blasting Wagner's ride of Valkyries through the sky. They descended upon the bandits below.

All around them the bandits finally broke. They ran all over the place trying to find cover from the fire incoming the helicopters. The two escorting cobras fired their rocket pods, turning the ground into a sea of fire. The Black Hawks with their miniguns rained hellish gunfire on the bandits.

"This is Hunter actual to Hunter 1-3 and 1-8, you are ordered to head to the mansion and provide security to the civilians sheltered in there. Over."

"Affirmative Hunter actual. 1-3 out."

"Roger that actual. 1-8 out."

Two black hawks broke formation and flew towards the Formar mansion inside the city.

One of the Cobras made a fly-by over the wall, clearing them with cannon fire. Then it flew back joining the rest of the helicopters slaughtering the bandits outside the wall.

Bandits were running all over the place, some tried to escape towards the west when they came face to face with the iron beasts from the Alnus hill. Those were advancing towards them in the line formation at an unbelievable speed.

"Hunter actual this is Beta actual. Be advised not to engage any targets in the west of your position. We are coming in through west. Over."

"Roger that beta actual, over and out."

'Good' Col. Romanov thought.

Picking up his radio he said.

"This is Beta actual to all combat elements, we will be advancing towards the east gate of the city and annihilate anything or anyone that stands between us and the city. Over and out."

The tanks began to advance forward closely followed by APCs and other support vehicles. They turned their turrets towards a bunch of bandits standing before them petrified and reliving their horrors from the Alnus battlefield. One of the Russian tank's main gun opened fire, blowing that bunch apart where they stood. It was soon followed by other tanks opening up with their main guns blasting many to oblivion. Some surviving fists those were acting as officers for the bandits tried to fight back with their magical attacks. But none of them worked on the heavily armoured tanks. They just scratched their paint and nothing else. In response, the coaxial guns opened up on them literarily filling them with holes.

Their offensive against the city was stopped at its gates, the Imperial fists empire's mightiest warriors were wiped out before they could engage the out world's army, They are attacked by strange flying objects blaring a strange but strong music on its peak, now with the arrival of the infamous iron beasts from the Alnus pointing their snouts which unleashed deadly fire magic at them they lost all the hope in the battle. Watching their comrades running away the ones engaging in battle inside the city walls began to fall back and join the rout. The tanks kept on firing their machine guns at the ones coming from inside the gateway. Many were cut down to bits.

Trampling over their own to save their own lives they ran from the battlefield. But all this running was to no avail, they soon found out they had been surrounded from all sides. Cries of panic and fear were heard amongst the now terrified men. Iron beasts of different sizes surrounded them now deploying troops into the battlefield from their back, The flying iron Pegasus ruled the skies, all their path to escape was now blocked. Their doom had finally arrived for them. But suddenly a voice was heard from the iron beasts.

"You are surrounded, drop your weapons and armour, surrender now and you will be spared. The voice commanded.

The bandits dropped their swords, spears, pikes, muskets and shields on the ground. They preferred to be prisoners than to face another ordeal the one they faced just now along with the one their previous comrades faced during the disaster at Alnus. Several horseless carriages drove towards them. Troops in green armour and garments poured out of it. They began ordering them in broken Germanian language. Many carefully searched the prisoners and began leading them away from the battlefield while others secured their weapons.

Romanov exited his command APC and looked around. The land was filled with craters created by their weapons and hundreds of dead corpses and remains of both man and animal laying all over the place. Vultures were circling around

"Lieutenant." he said to one of his men. " I want you to take half of the healthy prisoners and put them on clean-up duty. I want this place nice and tidy."

"Da sir," he replied and picked up his radio to relay the order.

 **( Imperial fist camp)**

Noldid slowly raised his head. He looked around his camp was in ruins. His men and their dragons had been blasted to bits by the outworlders iron dragons magic. Not long before he was commanding an army of 800 strong brigand army and a wing of Empire's strongest Imperial fist's Serpent company. But now the serpent company is all but wiped out of existence, the brigands have surrendered. He checked himself for any severe injuries and miraculously expected for his busted armour and missing weapons and few cuts here and there he was largely uninjured. He tries to stand up but suddenly he heard someone calling out to him in Albonish.

"We have a live one here."

Noldid looks back to see several outworlders were advancing towards him. He quickly reaches for his wand only to find out it was missing. They have soon surrounded him with their weapons raised.

"Hands in the Air, hands in the air and get on your knees."

"Surrender and you will be spared."

Noldid was an Imperial fist and he decided he will die rather than be taken prisoner by the outworlders.

He raises his fists and tried to lash out at them. They backed off.

"Come on you cowards," he yelled at them.

"Shoot this bastard."

"No !, he may be an officer we have to take him alive."

One of the soldiers turned his weapon around and hit him with his rifle's butt on his head from behind.

The force of the hit knocked Noldid out cold.

 **( Inside the city)**

Two hours later

Several UH-1s were flying over the city. JSDF troops were rappelling down around the east gateway and began securing the area. Their medics treated wounded and some of the soldiers rounded the prisoners. Itami and his group were sitting beside Kalb's APC, they were also being treated for the injuries they got during the fight along with several locals by their side. Combat group Beta trucks began entering the city. Soldiers from different nationalities poured out of the trucks to help the locals in the cleanup operation. Bodies were being dragged away from the gateway, the bodies of the city's defenders and of the bandits were kept separated from each other. The stone ground was washed to clean off the blood. Several JSDF Chinooks arrived from the base to help in clearing the city. They were loaded with aid supplies and left the base just an hour after the reinforcements set out for Italica. The Chinooks using their cables were lifting dead dragon corpses back to base those had fallen inside the city.

For the people of Italica, they were saved from the Brigand's wrath. They were rescued at the nick of time by the arrival of the Green Guardians and their army those who not only wiped out the brigands but also the Imperial fists those were commanding them. But for Pina, it was a disaster. She lost some of her most trusted people in the battle including Norma who sacrificed his life while leading the battle from the front. His body and along with several Tristanian knights were lined up in coffins in front of them at the Formal mansion's courtyard. As they paid their final respect Pina noticed they were being watched by another group of outworlder soldiers. This group was in the different set of uniform than the rest. They were donned in grey garments ( US Army Digital Camo) and were also armed with the strange muskets she saw with Itami's group before. When she arrived to her surprise she also saw several of them were black skinned humans. They were now patrolling the walls of the mansion.

"This is one of the biggest blunders I have ever made in my life," she said while lowering her head

"But captain we won the battle." Hamilton said

"No, we didn't win anything. It was the Green Guardians and their army that saved the day. We just have handed them over the city to them on a silver plate. Now their troops are all over the city, they even had deployed their troops in the mansion. If we try to fight back they will just annihilate us without breaking a sweat. " She replied back.

She had witnessed the destructive power this outworlder force had under its belt. They with their flying iron dragons along with their Iron beasts destroyed the bandits and the Imperial Fists. This kind of destructive power was not witnessed by her ever before in her life.

'If this is the power of the kingdom we have declared war against, then Germania is doomed.' She said to herself.

After paying her respect she turned back to leave only to find one of the grey-clad outworlders was waiting for her.

"Are you Captain Pina ?" he asked.

"Yes." She replied.

"Captain, I have been ordered to escort you and your party back to the mansion's throne room. So please follow me."

"Ok soldier lead the way."

She along with Hamilton, Grey and Napoleon followed the US Soldier back inside the mansion and towards the Throne room.

On the way, she noticed more of those men in grey. They were acting as sentries for the mansion. She saw some of the Formar household maids were distributing glasses of water to those men and women. After she reached the mansion's massive doors she saw a maid was waiting for them. Their outworlder escort stopped in front of the gate and gestured Pina to follow the maid.

"Ma'am she will be escorting you to throne room from here." He turns back to leave.

"Are you going to personally escort us to there," Napoleon asked

"No, we aren't allowed inside without orders from the higher-ups." he replies and leaves.

"Milady and lords, please follow me." the maid said and starts escorting them towards the Throne room.

The large wooden doors of the throne room were pushed open by the Italican guards standing guard outside the room. She entered the room to find Countess Myui in her formal wear was seated on her throne. Infront of her were nine men in the outworlders uniform and armour. Six of them were in the usual green but the other three were in the grey ones she saw before. They were all standing in attention in front of the Throne.

Pina and her group of knights quickly bow their heads to the countess.

"Captain Pina, Captain Napoleon please raise your heads. Don't embarrass me, you were the ones leading Italica's militia in my stead during the attack. I should bow my head for your service you did for the city."

"It is just you gist milady."

"Please take the seat beside me," Myui said.

"As you say milady." Pina quickly takes the seat beside Myui's wooden throne.

"Captain, I would like you to join me for the proceeding with the talks we are going to have with the UNTF."

"UNTF ?"

"United Nations Task Force." One of the older men from the outworlders delegation said.

"It the name we have given to the allied army we have formed to fight against the nation that crossed through the gate attacked our world without any provocation," he said.

From the facial features, Pina could fell the radiating leadership aura coming from that man.

"You sir would be..."

"Ohh, where are my manners," he said.

"I am Col. Romanov from the Russian Federation Armed forces and commander of the Combat group Beta and in overall command of this operation."

As he finished his introduction the man in grey spoke up.

"I am Col. Morrison from the United States Army 1st Air Cavalry Division."

Then the other man in green introduced himself.

"I am Col. Kengun from the JGSDF 4th Airborne Combat group."

"Colonel Romanov, Morrison and Kengun, I thank you again for saving our town," Myui said.

"Your Highness, it is our duty to protect the innocent and that is what we did," Romanov replied.

"What will you do now Colonel ?" Pina asked Sceptical of Romanov's intentions.

Romanov and other officers took a relaxed stance before speaking.

"Milady, we are under orders to garrison the town and establish a new base of operation for our army."

Pina along with several Imperials quickly jumped from their seats. "What? You are going to occupy the town."

"No, this is not the occupation. Countess Myui will keep her position as the Countess of Italica and ruler of the city and will retain her properties. So will the rest of the townspeople. Nothing will be taken from you or your people. We will help you in rebuilding the town, repair the damages inflicted in the battle, we will also set up our base outside the wall but have a garrison inside the town for the security and safety of your people. We will not loot your city or take your women. You will still have the rights to form your own militia and guard units for your city. Any of our soldiers commit any crime against the people of Italica will be put under arrest and trailed. Those found guilty will be penalised severely and I will personally see to it. We do not ask for any tribute. All your resources will go to your people for rebuilding and be taking care of the town."

"These are our terms, milady. We are here for the justice for our people those were mercilessly killed during the surprise invasion by the Empire. They were killed for no reason under the blades of imperial soldiers and now our world wants to find those responsible and make him pay for his crimes."

Myui thinks for a while. These people were here not to invade Halkeginia but for the justice for their people. The Empire, on the other hand, abandoned them during the time of their need and went on forward to pillage and burn her people without the consent of the ruling count or countess. In simple words, she along with the people of Formar county were betrayed by the empire and their emperor.

"These are very kind and acceptable terms Colonel." She said.

"We also like to request permission to establish a trading post and tax exemption."

"Mhmm. I accept."

"Milady please reconsider what will happen to the empire.." Pina pleaded

"No Captain, My people come first. After being betrayed by the esteemed emperor. I do not think I will trust Emperor Albert anymore."

This silenced her.

"What will happen to us ?" Pina asked probably of her ultimate fate.

"You all are Imperial nobility right," Morrison said.

"Yes, we are. But Captain Napoleon is part of the Tristanian Griffon knights."

"I see, It would be in our mutual interests if you remain free. You have seen what we could do, you now know our intentions. We are not here to annex and rule but for Justice for our people. I like to ask you, Captain, if you are willing then come to Alnus one day. Our General would like to meet you." Romanov spoke.

"What would be that reason?"

"While we are part of the nations fighting against each other. We do not want unnecessary blood to be spilt for no reason. War is not a good thing. They destroy the economy, they ruin peoples life. We just don't want that. We want to save lives but if we cannot end this war at the diplomatic table... then I am afraid we will have to end it in the fields and in your capital's streets."

Pina took some time to think. Has it fallen upon her shoulders to bring peace between the Empire and UNTF? But she is just a minor noble, she doesn't have the position to negotiate. No one is going to listen to her.

"But..but I am just a leader of this knighthood, I hold no position in the court."

"That is up to you Captain. I know what your position holds in the Nobility hierarchy. I suggest you use your sources among your friends and family members to gain attention from your court."

"I understand." She said.

She could get the information she collected from her Mother in the Terre County. Who might use her influence at the court to make the nobles and the emperor himself understand the kind of powerful enemy they are fighting against right now.

"You adapt or you die." Romanov continued. " We do not wish to destroy your nation or your civilization. Our own world has its own bloody history. Empires rise and fall. There is no honor in doing something stupid. Honor does not come through blood and death. Do not let your pride stand between your judgements, Captain. Being stubborn and foolish during a war will lead to losing hundreds of lives for nothing."

"I understand," Pina replied.

Just now Col. Romanov just said to her the way the nobles are acting being high and mighty above all is a foolish act. She is a noble herself but doesn't know why she finds Romanov's short lecture very convincing.

One of the Romanov's men who was a radio operator received some information through his radio.

" _Ser_ ," he whispered in Russian. "The streets are cleared and we are ready to begin. Troops are waiting for you outside the cities gate."

 _"Khorosho"_ he replied."Tell them I will be there in ten minutes."

His soldier nodded and relays the info back through his radio.

"Milady I would like to ask permission to lead a parade through the town in celebration for our victory against the bandits and their imperial officers."

"A parade." Myui said in a childish and enthusiastic voice." Yes go on, I would love to see it."

"Thank you, milady."

Romanov turns back to leave them along with the other UNTF officers.

"Col. Morrison, Kengun you want to join."

"No I will pass," Morrison replied. "But I will send some of my men to join you."

"Me too," Kengun added.

"Well, then all the fun and fame goes to me."

The men chuckled as they left the room and head towards the mansion doors.

* * *

Italica's East Gate

Romanov arrived at the gate. He exited the Humvee he had used to go to the Mansion.

He walked towards the parade that was waiting for their commander to arrive.

"We are ready, Sir." A Canadian officer said.

"Good." He climbed on to a GAZ 2925 Tigr.

"Ok people get ready to put off a hell of a show for these people. This parade is going to be printed in their memories as the best one they ever saw before."

"Ready...Begin."

The British army band began playing their bang pipes as they start marching towards the gate. They were soon joined by the drums and Scotland the Brave march echoed through the open space just outside the city gates.

The Townspeople began to notice this strange but soothing tune being played and began to flock the streets to see what was going on and who was playing it. The Soldiers put on duty to control the crowd beforehand stopped them from going too close to the streets now cleared for the upcoming parade.

The British playing their tune crossed through the gateway and entered into Italica's street. They were followed by the Flag bearers holding the Flag of the United Nations which was at the front closely followed by the flags of the nations participating in this operation. They were the flags of Japan, Russia, United States, Canada, India, Germany, Italy and Great Britain. Behind the flags was Col. Romanov in his GAZ Tigr saluting the civilians those were now cheering as loud as they can for their saviours. Then came the Infantry, each participating nation had its own marching detachment. The ones leading was the Japanese, then the Russians, Americans, Italians, Canadians and Indians. After them came the armour with Germans and Canadian tanks leading the front, then came the Russian and the Indians, followed by three Italian M113s and six Canadian LAVs. Due to low on space, only two tanks from each nation participated in the parade. They marching troops were cheered on by the people on both sides of the street and were showered with flowers as the marched on throughout the city.

On the walls of the Mansion Myui, Pina along with her knights was witnessing this show of force and discipline of the troops from Earth. They were also joined by Cato, Elvira, Rainn, Col. Morrison and Minami who was standing beside Myui.

"Why there are so many flags ?" Myui asked in a childish voice.

"They are the flags of the different nations that participated in the Defence of Italica milady," Morrison explained.

"The one blue flag leading them all is the Flag of the United Nations. It is an intergovernmental organisation our nations are part of. Other flags are the ones that participated in this operation."

"Ohhh... They march so perfectly. It is beautiful to watch them along with the band of musicians leading the way." The British band now passed through the mansion walls playing the Black bear followed by the rest of the parade.

"How many nations are there in the United nations colonel," Pina asked curious to know about them.

"There are total 193 members I think. Basically, consider all the nations in our world are part of the organisations leaving a few of them."

Pina froze where she stood.

'The Empire had just declared war against a whole world consisting of more than 193 nations. Their strength will be even more than the total number of people combined together in all over Halkeginia.'

The parade marched on and exited the city through the West gate.

(3 hours later)

After the parade, the Airborne combat group consisting of the 1st Cavalry and the 4th Combat Airborne Group flew back to Fort Endurance along with them they took back Noldid who was tied down by chains and gagged as he tried he best to free himself and bite his captors whenever he got close to them. The Soldiers from Combat group Beta assumed defensive formation. Tanks, APCs and troops guarded all the approach to the city. Several soldiers patrolled the streets along with local volunteers to keep the peace. For the bandits, they were handed over to the city authorities were as per the treaty they were being used as a workforce to repair the damage they had done. The last bit of doubt of Myui was removed when the flag of Formar county flew on the flagpole of the city's walls along with the flag of the United Nations.

When suddenly the Sentries guarding the East wall reported a trail of dust was being formed at the horizon indicating the arrival something or someone coming straight for the city. A general alert was declared and Troops mostly Russians and Canadians began manning the walls. On The ground were four Indian Arjun tanks with Canadian LAVs, the east gate opened up and several platoons of Indian Italian and a few JSDF troops joined them. A Humvee with loudspeakers was also brought up to warn the upcoming group of unknown riders now confirmed by the men on the top of the wall.

* * *

Road to Italica.

A group of Horsemen raced down the road to the east towards Italica. They were the members of the Rose Knight order and the Tristanian Cavalry. For three whole days, they rode nonstop only stopping to give the horses to drink water and feed them. Saito was dead tired, constant riding had taken the toll of him. But he was in better shape than the rest of his companions. Louise was the one who suffered the most. She couldn't take the journey anymore, so to support her he let her ride in the back of his horse. Gramount barely kept his eyes open.

The countryside flew past his eyes as he rode as fast as he can to keep up with the Rose knights those were leaving them behind.

"Miss Bozes, You are going too fast," he said.

"But we are too slow, we will not be able to reach the town in time." She said as she held the horse's rein tighter and lashed it harder.

"He is right." Panache said.

"You are leaving most of our group behind. They are tried, your horse will not be able to make it and the people in the rear can't keep up. If you go this way we will be unable to fight even if we make it in time."

"It doesn't matter, our objective is Italica, and the stragglers can catch up later. Time is of the essence now.!"

"I understand your feelings, miss Bozes, but with few people, those will reach the city will not be able to help the defenders much." Saito tried to reason with her.

"But..."

"He is right we will only harm ourselves rather than do anything to help the city and our Captain."

She lowered her head and grudgingly loosen the reins lowering her speed. The unit behind finally catches up.

After an hour or so they finally reached the outskirts of the sudden. When suddenly the group came to a halt. In front of them was the battered wall of Italica and from this far they could see hundreds of men were manning them. On the ground, there were large iron beasts with snouts pointing towards them.

The first one to see them were the imperials those were at the front of the cavalry column.

"What are those ?" Panache said.

"I don't know. It appears the city has already fallen." Bozes says now disheartened by the fact they couldn't reach in time.

Soon Saito and the Tristanians arrived at the spot the Germanians were standing.

"What are those things ? who are those people ?" Kirche asked

"They must be the accursed outworlders." Guiche said.

"What are we going to do now ?" Louise said who have returned back to her horse after taking a short nap during her ride with Saito.

"We are going to fight," Bozes commanded.

"Are you out of your mind, we are just cavalry, we need infantry to scale those walls." Guiche pointed out.

"Are you scared of death ? are you not a Noble," Bozes yells at him

"That's not what I meant."

While both Bozes and Guiche argued among themselves what to do next. Louise noticed the sudden silence that reigned upon Saito. Who looked at the outworlders with shock. He looked straight towards the soldiers those were taking positions along the armoured vehicles. His eyes then fell upon the blue flag that fluttered in the winds of the sky on the top of the wall along with the flag of Formar.

"Saito, What happened? She asked a little bit of worried about him.

Tiffania who was on the left of Saito was also waiting for a response.

"They are..."

"Speak upon Saito." Tiffania encouraged him.

"They are... from my world..."

"What !" Louise yelled.

"Yes."

"You mean..."

She was cut off by a sudden voice in the air.

"WARNING, WARNING, YOU ARE NOW NEARING THE CITY OF ITALICA UNDER THE PROTECTION OF UNITED NATIONS TASK FORCE. TURN AWAY IMMEDIATELY OR YOU WILL BE INTERCEPTED AND DESTROYED.

to be continued...

* * *

Thank you for reading this latest chapter and also for your all your support till now.

 _Don't forget to review._

 _Stay tuned for the next chapter: Reunion ( note the might change in accordance with the content I write.)_


	11. 10 Reunion

**Hey folks peacekeeper is back with another chapter.**

* * *

 **Ch-10 Reunion.**

Italica, East Gate.

"WARNING, WARNING, YOU ARE NOW NEARING THE CITY OF ITALICA UNDER THE PROTECTION OF UNITED NATIONS TASK FORCE. TURN AWAY IMMEDIATELY OR YOU WILL BE INTERCEPTED AND DESTROYED."

Captain Liam spoke in the top of his voice through the Megaphone. Not long ago he was having a hearty chat with his Russian counterpart about whose army got the better tanks in their military.

"You Canadians do really took the language classes too seriously." the Russian Captain Vasily commented with a chuckle.

After crossing through the gate, the Canadian contingent officer in charge made it mandatory for its officers and soldiers to be fluent in the local language. It was hard but by the second month of their deployment in the special region, most of the Canadian officers and nearly all of the NCOs were able to speak broken Germanian without the use of the language book. Liam along with few of the other German descendent officers was able to grasp this language more quickly.

Looking through his Binoculars he could clearly see the unknown riders largely consisted of women in ornamental white armour, a few men in blue armour and uniform, three girls with one of them surprisingly with pink hair and a blonde guy in school uniforms along with a dark-haired boy in heavy armour. A red flag with a rose insignia fluttered behind their back.

"Gate 02, this is Central, give me a sitrep over." his radio crackled to life.

"Central, we have clear visual on the incoming unknown riders. This group is of a company strength worth of cavalry and consists mostly of women in ornamental armour and a bunch of teenagers. Currently waiting for their response to our warning, over."

"Roger that, Gate 02, follow the protocol give them another two warnings and if they do not turn back, you are authorised to use deadly force to remove them. We do not want another imperial force besieging the city. Over."

"Affirmative central, Out."

Liam places his radio back and takes another look at the possible hostile targets.

To his surprise and from the looks of it the unknown group appears to have been arguing among themselves.

Bringing his megaphone to bear he spoke again.

"ATTENTION!, YOU ARE ENCROACHING THE LAND OF THE CITY OF ITALICA UNDER THE PROTECTION OF UNITED NATIONS TASK FORCE. TURN AWAY OR YOU WILL BE DESTROYED."

"If it was up to me, I would have already blown those bastards to hell." The Vasily commented.

"That's the reason why we Canadians are in charge of the gates and not you trigger happy Russians."

The Russian officer had a heartfelt laugh to Liam's answer.

"After this mess is over my friend, come over to our Russian mess hall. I will treat you with the strongest Vodka we brought it from our motherland."

"Affirmative," Liam replied with a smile and continued his watch on the activities of the group.

"Well, those people are really having a good chat there." A Canadian soldier said sarcastically noticing the internal bickering of the presumed imperial cavalry unit has been intensified after their second announcement. The situation got so bad that he could clearly see swords been drawn at each other.

After a few minutes of heated argument, the situation appeared to have cooled down as the group began sheathing their swords. Liam checks his watch to see ten minutes have passed since the second warning.

He sighs, he had already given enough time for the Imperials to go back from where they have come. A lot of blood had already been spilt today and he didn't want more to be spilt unnecessarily but with the Imperials concerned on arguing and fighting each other rather than giving heed to his warnings. Nothing can be done for them anymore.

He picks up his megaphone for the final warning.

"THIS IS YOUR LAST AND FINAL WARNING TURN BACK IMMEDIATELY OR YOU WILL BE FIRED UPON. I REPEAT THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING TURN AWAY FROM THE CITY IMMEDIATELY OR YOU WILL BE FIRED UPON."

He gives an approving nod at his Russian friend who in return nods and blaring orders to his men.

"Take your positions and prepare to fire."

As ordered soldiers on the top of the wall along with those on the ground prepared their weapons. Tanks turned their guns at the group of Horsemen waiting for their orders to open fire.

"Sir look." a soldier pointed towards the top of the cliff.

Liam quickly peeks through his binoculars to see the black haired boy, who waved a makeshift white flag as he moves, a giant mole along with his blonde companion, a girl with pink hair and a small group of white armoured female knights were riding fast towards them.

"HOLD YOUR FIRE AND STAND DOWN." he yelled at his men.

"I think the last warning worked. Now they want to talk." the Russian officer said.

Suddenly Liam's radio crackled to life.

"Gate 02, HOLD your fire, we have just been notified from the local nobility the Cavalry are from the relief for dispatched to rescue the city. Over."

Hearing this Liam and Vasily friend looked at each. They were just about to blow possible friendlies to kingdom come if that brave guy hadn't waved that white flag.

"Gate 02, their unit captain will be arriving shortly at your position to receive her people. Over."

"Acknowledged Central, 02 out."

* * *

Italica, East Gate (Imperial Lines)

Louise and others stood stunned by the sudden voice in the air. Those words clearly stated the city was now under the outworlders control and they were being ordered to leave or else they will be destroyed.

Louise slowly turned her head towards Saito who clearly looked stunned and disturbed by this. Not long ago she found out the real identity of the outworlders. They were people from the world Saito claimed to have come from.

For Saito, he was in a dilemma. He vowed to protect his friends and rid this land of the invaders. But when he found the soldiers that invaded Germania and took over the city are from his own world he doesn't know what to do right now. shocked him the most was the blue flag that flew proudly on the flagpole of the city's gate. It was none other than the flag of the United Nations. The force stood before him must be a multi-national force consisting of several soldiers from different nationalities from Earth. There may even if having Japanese soldiers among them. He doesn't want to betray his friends' trust in him but he also doesn't want to fight his own people. He also knew what those tanks and soldiers are capable of. This mere force of two hundred horsemen stood no chance, they will be annihilated before even they are able to draw their weapons.

"What are we going to do?" Guiche said unable to comprehend what to do next.

"We do what we have come here to do. We are going to attack and save our Captain along with the city from these wretched outworlders." Bozes said.

"They even dare to order us to run away like cowards rather than fight them like a true Noble. They will pay for this insolence." Panche added while signalling the order knights to prepare for a cavalry charge.

"But we are too few to take the city." Guiche protested.

"We don't have to, the townspeople will rise up as we enter the town to liberate them. The gates haven't been fully repaired yet which leaves us only to deal with those men standing between us and the city." Bozes explained.

"They are just infantry, they don't have any cavalry to counter us. We will prevail." Panche added.

Seeing the advantage they have against the enemy Guiche decided to comply with the Germanians. Not joining with them during their attack will also sour the Tristan- Germania relationship and bring dishonour to his family along with it.

He turned his head towards one of his officers.

"Captain, order the men to prepare for an attack and wait for my signal."

"Yes, milord," he replies and was about to turn around to ride towards the Tristanian contingent when Saito spoke up.

"Wait!" he said.

"What is it, Saito?" Guiche asked.

He slowly turns towards Guiche.

The cheerful and optimistic expression Saito used to have has already been drained. It was replaced by a face of a worried and scared man.

"You cannot fight them. They will slaughter you before you even reach halfway down this road," he said grimly.

"How the hell can you be this sure?" Panche yelled at him.

"Trust me, they will kill us all even without breaking a sweat."

"We haven't even faced an outworlder yet in a battle. How can you be so sure of their true capabilities?" Bozes said sceptically of Saito's words.

Saito gave no reply for a few seconds thinking about what will happen when he revealed his origins to the Germanians.

"Because...I am from their World."

"What!" Bozes yelled, shocked by this revelation.

Panche looked at him widening her eyes in shock like her companion.

Guiche and Zerbst couldn't say anything. For Louise and Tiffania kept their silence as they already know about this some time ago.

A wave of awkward silence reigned upon them. But it was soon broken by another announcement made by the outworlders.

"ATTENTION!, YOU ARE ENCROACHING THE LAND OF THE CITY OF ITALICA UNDER THE PROTECTION OF UNITED NATIONS TASK FORCE. TURN AWAY OR YOU WILL BE DESTROYED."

They shifted their attention towards the source.

'This was the second warning' Saito thought. 'If all those Hollywood movies I saw in my world were right then the third warning will be final before they open fire.'

"Okay, everyone. We should comply with their orders and move a few hundred meters back."

"What! you want us to turn tail and run." Kirche yelled at him.

"This is my Kingdom for Founder's sake. You didn't run away during the Albion invasion of Tristain. I even a Germanian Noble fought beside you during the invasion though I was not bound to fight for Tristain."

"Hey Kirche calm down, This is not what I meant," Saito said trying to calm her down.

While Saito tries to reason with Kirche he didn't notice to see Bozes who had slowly shifted herself from her previous position and now stood very near to him.

"Mr Saito" She called him

Saito turns his head to find Bozes with a cold expression on her face. Her eye's coldness was enough to bore holes into him.

"Mr Saito, didn't you mentioned earlier that you belonged to the world those outworlders came from?"

"Yes, Yes I am" Saito replied

Suddenly Bozes unsheathed her sword and points it towards Saito. The sharp tip of the sword being inches away from his neck.

"That makes you our enemy Mr Saito."

"Wait, wait I am not your enemy!" Saito said as he tries to back away only to find the tip of the much more closer than before.

"Partner, I don't like what this ringlet girl is trying to do." Derfflinger Saito's magical sword who was keeping his mouth shut till now whispers.

"I know Derf, I know," Saito whispers back.

"If you try to move you will have to leave your head behind." Bozes threatened him.

At this very moment, Louise intervenes in Saito's defence.

"You touch him and I will blow you back to your emperor," she says while pointing her wand at Bozes face.

In response, several Rose knights and Tristanian cavalrymen drew their weapons and pointed them towards each other. Guiche also draws his wand and aimed it at Panche. Zerbst took the side of her people while Tiffania took cover behind her friends back. The allies and friends were now turning on each other and it had turned into a Mexican standoff.

'Damn it, this is bad.' Saito said to himself. 'Gotta to do something before they start fighting each other.' Taking a glance at the gate. ' Not to forget those tanks are aiming right at us right now.'

Saito slowly places his hand on Louise's right arm which held her wand and slowly pulls it down. When Louise looks towards him. "We have to talk it out, I don't want us to fight with our allies for a misunderstanding."

He then turns his head towards Guiche and nods signalling him to stand the men down. But the Germanians still kept their weapons up.

Raising his hands in the air and coming forward Saito spoke up.

"Miss Bozes, I came to this world nearly two years ago during a Familiar summoning ritual done by my companion Louise de la Vallière here. Though I am from the other world I assure you I am not a spy nor your enemy. I have been fighting for Tristain and her people for half of my stay in this world. Beginning from the Reconquista invasion of Tristain to the Counter invasion of Albion by the alliance of our two kingdoms. I even lived through a near-death experience during that campaign. After returning back I was awarded the title of the Lordship of Des Ornières for my bravery. I have miss Kirche from your kingdom as a witness to all of this."

He knowing lies the near-death experience part as he really died during the fighting. He cannot let the identity of Tiffinia to be revealed to these already unstable knights.

Bozes looks at Kirche who responded with a nod verifying Saito's story.

"If I was a spy or your enemy, why would I have to go through all this?, Why I would willingly fight two major conflicts from some another kingdom?, Tell me."

"So you are a familiar, prove it."

Saito pulls out his gloves to show the runes on his left hand."

After a few seconds of thinking and reviewing the runes Bozes sighs slowly lowers her sword and with a hand gesture, other knights began lowering their weapons as well.

"I believe you. For now." She says.

"Thank you," Saito replies back.

He sighs in relief as the situation calmed down.

Then suddenly as if the God in the heavens was mocking and having fun with Saito today. The third announcement went up.

"THIS IS YOUR LAST AND FINAL WARNING TURN BACK IMMEDIATELY OR YOU WILL BE FIRED UPON. I REPEAT THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING TURN AWAY FROM THE CITY IMMEDIATELY OR YOU WILL BE FIRED UPON."

This time it sent shivers down Saito's spine as he thought of himself being blown apart by a tank round through his body. He could clearly see the movement of the Tank's turrets and the troops were taking positions a bit away from them for their own safety.

But the last warning infuriated Bozes even more.

"Knights prepare to Attack" she ordered.

"No" Saito yelled again."Do not attack."

"Why are you not wanting us to attack. Are you in fear of your people's lives. ?" Panche asked while getting ready for a charge.

"Listen to me. Those guns they are holding has the firing power to decimate this whole cavalry unit in a fraction of seconds. Their weapons could fire dozens of rounds even before needing to reload. Those iron behemoths of both sides of the gate have enough firepower in their cannons to destroy all of us even before you are half way through your charge." he explained.

"You are bluffing."

"No, I am not. If you want to die then go die yourself. Don't take those other knights with you to their meaningless deaths."

This information stunned the Tristanians and the Germanians alike as a musket being able to fire so many rounds at a very fast rate before reloading was unbelievable. But Saito's serious face made many to believe that.

"So what are we going to do?" Kirche asks.

"We are going to fall back."

"No, we are not. Our captain and our comrades might still be imprisoned inside the city and I am not moving an inch even in the face of death before taking them or their bodies back with me." Bozes says.

'This means we have to talk to them.' he thought to himself. 'If we turn away now, we will be perceived as a hostile group but if we send a messenger to talk with them then I can have a middle ground. We get Info on Bozes captain and also why the hell UN is doing out here in Germania.'

"Captain, can I have your white cloak," Saito asks the Tristanian Cavalry captain.

"Yes sire, here it is."

"Good."

"Your spear please."

"here sire."

He then goes on to make a white flag out of it. While his companions wait to see what he was doing.

"Perfect," Saito says to himself.

"I am going to have a dialogue with those soldiers at the gate." He says and began to move towards the city.

"Wait Saito they might kill you," Lousie says worried about him and not wanting to lose his again.

"Don't worry I will be safe. In my world we have a set of rules preventing soldiers from shooting a man with a white flag," he assured her.

"Nonetheless I am coming with you" she insisted

" I am also not letting you do this alone," Guiche said as he prepares to follow Saito.

"I will be also going with you as the representative of our Knight order," Bozes said.

Saito sighs in defeat

"Ok then, follow me and please refrain from acting hostile."

They began riding down towards the gate as he began waving their white flag and praying not to be blown to pieces before they reach their destination.

* * *

Italica, East Gate. (UN Forces)

The small entourage of Imperial Knights and a miss-match group of teenagers came riding down the hill towards awaiting troops and armour waiting for them in front of the gate. Liam was also on the ground, having given orders to act as the welcoming party for the friendly imperial troops. He had been specifically instructed by the command to follow the standard ROE. Do not fire until fired upon or in this case do not fire until you see a wand or similar thing like that pointed at you.

The imperial party stopped a few meters away from his troops. As Liam took a glance at the imperial party, Out of the group those clearly looked like people of European descent he couldn't help but notice the black-haired boy in the group. Except for his heavy armour, he really stands out among them due to his Asiatic features that were clearly visible on his face.

Both parties stood at their respective positions for a few seconds until Liam decided to take the initiative.

"Hello," he spoke in Germanian.

"I am Captain Liam of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Regiment. I Welcome you all to the city of Italica."

The woman with ringlet hair came forward.

"I am Bozes Co Ascania, Knight lieutenant of the Rose Order of Knights." She said as proudly as possible. She then quickly took a glance at the soldiers and to her displeasure was unable to find a person who looked like a man of noble birth. Feeling a bit insulted she spoke up.

"As a member of Germanian Imperial nobility, this is an affront to us being welcomed by a bunch to lowly commoner footmen into the city. I demand you summon your lord to do so in a more civilised way or move out of our way, we are going to the Formar mansion to meet the lord in charge of the city. Moreover you fools forgot to bow before us with respect."She declared

The friendly smile Liam had on his face disappeared.

"What do you mean by that young lady?"

"Miss Bozes you shouldn't talk to them..."

"Lord Saito can't you see I in something important right now." She cut him off.

"But Miss Bozes it was my task to talk to them," Saito said worried about how the things are going turn up after Bozes just insulted the Canadian soldier.

"As the leader of this group, it falls under my duty to begin negotiation with the enemy, not you. So please keep your mouth shut and let me do the talking."

"But.."

While Saito and Bozes conversed Liam heard the black haired boy's name

'Is it I or this boy's name has a Japanese vibe to it.' He said to himself.

Without giving much heed to Saito Bozes turned her attention back towards Liam.

"I mean that you foolish lowly commoners should summon your lord here right now or move out of our way so we could meet him in the manor. You even dare not to address me by my title, what kind of illiterate fool did give you the position of the Guard Captain in your army ?"

Liam was taken aback by the kind of reply he got from the so-called friendlies. He was really furious by the imperials reaction to his friendly approach.

"Now move out of our way commoner." She said as she places her hand on her sword."As I can see you do not intend to inform your lord, we have to meet him ourselves." Holding the reigns of her stead. "Now out of our way or I will run you over."

This was the breaking point for Liam's patience. First, she insulted him and his men and now she threatens to run him over by her horse. And according to the ROE, this is a hostile act.

"Miss you get it or not, you are in no position to make any demands." He turns his head towards his men and nods. The soldiers quickly began training their weapons at the Imperial party. The LAVs turrets also turned towards the Imperials while the Tanks kept their guns aimed at the rest of the Imperial force. This startles the imperial party minus Saito as he was expecting this to happen.

"By the authority of United Nations Task Force, I order you to dismount from your horses and surrender your weapons at once." He ordered levelling his rifle and aiming at Bozes head.

"You dare to order me," Bozes yells drawing her sword from its sheath.

Simultaneously other knights also drew their weapons.

"Wait!" Saito quickly holds Bozes arms.

"What are you doing you Tristanian dog?" Bozes curses as she struggles to remove Saito's hand.

 _*Bang*_

The sword sprang out of Bozes arms and falls on to the ground. The sword had been broken into two by the force of the bullet that struck on to its blade.

"You..." She sprang again drawing her wand when..

 _*Bang*_

Bozes stopped dead on her tracks as she felt another bullet went whistles right next to her right ear.

"Next round would be your head," Liam said coldly still aiming his smoking rifle at the stunned knight.

"Protect the lieutenant" Other knights moved forward to protect their commander but were stopped when she raised her hand to stop them.

"No stop!" she ordered. "We cannot fight them."

Liam noticed the proud face the ringlet had is now been replaced by fear.

"That's right bitch, no one messes with us." A soldier commented.

"Private!"

"Ehh..Sorry, Sir."

"Now dismount and surrender."

"No."Bozes states mustering all her courage. "I will only surrender myself to a Noble, not to a commoner musketeer. If I do it will bring dishonour to my family."

Liam sighs.

"This honour of yours will surely make you dead one day."

Suddenly the dark haired boy jumps down from his horse and moves right in front of Bozes. Liam expected him to draw his sword and he prepared to counter him accordingly but the opposite happened. The surprisingly bows his head in front of Liam and his men and began to speak in a language he wasn't expecting to hear in this world.

"Sir, I sincerely apologize for my companion's unruly behaviour." The boy spoke in Japanese. "Please do not harm us, we were just summoned here by our captain to save the city when we received a message the city was under attack."

"Sir is it only me or this boy just spoke Japanese." One of the privates asked.

"You heard it right."

The boy was soon joined by the girl with the pink hair.

"Saito, have you forgot you are a Noble now. Don't low yourself by bowing your head to these commoners."She spoke in French.

"Hmm, she spoke in French," Liam said to himself. "She must be one of those Gallians or Tristanians I read in the report before."

"Our esteemed Knight lieutenant Bozes here have already made a bad impression of us. I don't want this bad situation to go worse." He said while still being in bowed position.

Suddenly Saito caught Louise's head and pulled it down to bowing posture.

"As you have come, join me in apologizing to them."

"Why would I apologize for these stupid Germanians."

"If you do not, then they will open fire and I for one don't want to be get shot by my own people from my world."

This phrase caught the Canadian Japanese translator off guard.

He quickly informed this to Liam.

"What?!" he said shocked by this "This boy is from our world !."

It was not just Liam but other soldiers too who got to hear his outburst.

Before he could inquire anymore he was interrupted by the arrival of one of the city's representatives.

"Bozes!" The red hair girl yelled and walked right past him.

"Stand down." The Russian officer escorting the girl ordered.

The troops lowered their weapons as ordered.

Watching the situation has calmed down Saito and Louise rose their heads up.

"Captain!, thanks to the founder you are alright. What had happened? Are you been taken prisoner by the outworlders?! Is the Countess is their hostage too?"

"No Bozes I am all right and nothing of such happened to me or anyone else in the Formar household."She answered."Come there is so much to explain. I order you to cooperate with them. They will escort you to the Formar Mansion."

"But Captain!"

But a death glare from Pina shut off Bozes for any complaint she had in her mind.

"Captain, what are the orders for the army?"

"They have permission to set up their camp outside the city walls. But in order to enter they had to relinquish their weapons."

"Yes ma'am I will inform them immediately." the knight turns around and starts riding towards the knights waiting for them.

Pina turns towards the Familiar and master duo standing beside Bozes.

"Thank you, Lord Saito and miss Louise for standing up and saving my subordinate."

Rubbing the back of his head he replied.

"It's nothing Captain Pina, I did what a good friend would do."

Pina smiles.

"Then as a friend, I would like you to address me as Pina rather than my rank next time."

Saito smiles and replies

"Will do."

As Pina turns around to leave Saito felt a hand on his shoulder. He turns around to see Louise. She appeared to be very furious at him.

"Why do you always flirt with other girls, Saito." She angrily yells at him.

"What!, I didn't do that at all." Saito tries to defend himself.

"No, you always do."

The duo began to quarrel among themselves right in front of the Imperials and UN troops.

"Sir, what those two are doing?"

"I think they are having a lover's quarrel. Private."

"I know that sir, but they should at least keep that to some other time. They do know that they were about to be filled with holes a few seconds ago."

Liam chuckles "I know private, I know."

The blonde boy who was maintaining his distance from the soldiers a few minutes ago, dismounted from his horse strides towards the quarrelling couple and intervenes before it goes out of control.

"Stop you two." Guiche shouts at both of them."At least try to be civil when you are in public."

This effectively broke their argument.

Louise backs off. But she out of nowhere draws her wand pointed towards.

"At least, I am going to blast him for his unfaithfulness."

"Hey wait you can't do that..." Saito was cut off mid-sentence when he heard a recognisable voice calling out towards him. Louise attention also turns to see the person called out to him again.

"Saito." he hears.

He quickly turns his head to see a man donned in JSDF uniform holding a Type 89 rifle in his hands and a broad smile on his face.

Saito quickly recognises the person he hadn't expected to meet him this far away from home. He also never expected this person to be wearing the uniform of the Self Defense Force ever in his life. Saito face lit up in joy and happiness he ever felt when he came to this new world nearly two years ago as the person began to walk towards him. The only word that came out from his mouth in utmost admiration was "Big Brother Higashi."

* * *

(15 Minutes Earlier.)

Formar Mansion.

Higashi sat beside his platoon mates as they had their rest on the mansion gardens after the gruelling fighting they had to go through in the early morning.

"So when are we going back to Fort Endurance?" Carter asked.

"I am in dire need for a shower." Taking a glance at his uniform which was covered with dirt and blood of the bandits he slain."And a new set of uniform." he said with a tired and weary smile.

"We will be going back after Lt. Arran and Itami return from their briefing with _Oberst_ Romanov," Muller replied while he cleaned his rifle.

"Sgt, If you don't mind then I will be taking a short nap."

"Go on private," Beaman replied.

"Thanks, Sarge."

Carter slowly lies down on the garden soft grass and by using his bag as a pillow drifted into deep sleep.

"Here" Kuwahara hands Higashi an MRE food packet.

"Thank you Master Sgt." He replies as he opens up the packet.

"Don't mention it son, you have earned it."

While he eats his food, he along with others noticed the sudden movement of troops all over the mansion ground and road.

"What's going on?" Beaman asked a nearby running Canadian Soldier.

"A large unknown cavalry unit has been reported by the sentries at the east gate. A general alert has been declared."

"Enemy reinforcements?"

"Might be." He replies and runs towards his platoon waiting for him on a truck ready to leave for the east gate.

A Russian officer blares orders at a 2K22 Tunguska commander who then turns its guns and missiles towards the sky scanning for any possible dragons flying towards them.

"Hey Carter, wake up" James yells at him.

When he got no response. He kicks him in his ass.

"Ehh.. What, are we going back now ?" Carter asks still half asleep.

"No, Princess we might be facing another attack. A general alert has been declared. Now get up before Arran arrives.

"Okay." Carter gets up using his water bottle he splashes water on his face to ward off any sleepiness left in his eyes.

Cardwell who was some time ago was at the aid station patching up his cut wounds sustained from the fight comes walking towards them carrying two large boxes of ammo. Closely followed by Kuribayashi who was carrying a box full of grenades.

"Extra ammo guys. Resupply as quick as possible we have orders to be standby." He says as he and Shino place those boxes down on the ground.

The platoon quickly replenishes their depleted ammo from those boxes.

The blaring of warning could be heard in the distant coming from the east gate.

A few minutes later Kuwahara saw Itami along with the red head knight captain Pina and a Russian officer comes out of the mansion.

"Master Sgt I need a driver ASAP."

"Yes, sir!"

"Higashi, go with the Lieutenant."

"Yes, Master Sgt," Higashi replies getting up slinging his rifle on his shoulders and ran towards his light truck. Where Itami was waiting for him.

"Higashi, take Captain Pina and Captain Malashenko to the East gate." He orders.

"Yes, sir." Higashi gets into the driver seat. Malashenko gets into the seat beside him while Pina after assuring her that it is relatively safe to travel in the truck gets into the back seat.

"Get us to the east gate as fast as you can, soldier before something bad happens." Malashenko orders.

"Something bad? sir," Higashi asked as he turned the keys to ignition and a little bit of surprised to hear the Russian speaking Japanese. Though it was somewhat broken but understandable.

"Captain Pina's knights have arrived at the gate. They don't know that we are working together for the security and safety of the city. She is worried that her knights might do something stupid and get turned to shreds by our men at the gates."

The truck came to life and it left the mansion grounds leaving a trail of dust behind gunning towards the east gateway.

"You could speak Japanese? sir," Higashi asked in curiosity.

" Some of our officers were taught in rudimentary Japanese speech, so we could interact with our counterparts better without much need for a translator."

Higashi nods and kept his attention on the road, honking his horn on intervals to keep away local bystanders from getting hit by his truck, as many tried to cross the road unaware of the upcoming truck moving at a speed of 40kmph. As they drew closer to the gateway two gunshots could be heard at a distance. Malashenko and Higashi looked at each other and without any delay, Higashi put the pedal on the accelerator. For Pina hearing, those gunshots meant she is late to arrive in time, she was certain that some of her men could have been gravely injured or worse have been shot dead by the UNTF sentries.

The truck began to slow down as their destination east gateway drew closer and stopped a few meters away from the checkpoint set up by the Canadian and Russians at the broken gate.

Jumping out of the truck Malashenko and Pina leaving Higashi ran past the checkpoint and out through the gateway.

Higashi turned off jeep's engine and calmly sat in his seat waiting for their return. A few minutes passed and hearing the commotion he disembarked from his vehicle deciding to see what was going on.

Walking past the barricade his ears caught up a recognizable voice he hadn't heard for nearly last two years. Shoving past a few Canadian soldiers he saw the person's face who was declared lost and presumed dead by the authorities back home, but his mother till to this day didn't lose hope to wait for her youngest son would come home one day. His eyes began to tear up. He slowly called out to him.

"Saito"

His brother appeared to have been indulged in a heated argument with a pink haired girl when his voice was heard by him. He slowly turned his attention towards him.

"Saito" he called again and began to walk towards him with a big broad smile on his face.

"Big brother Higashi." The boy called him

Higashi had just found his lost younger brother in another world.

* * *

(Present)

Higashi walks towards his brother slinging his weapon on his back opening his arms to give Saito a hug and lifted him in the air. From the looks of it Higashi was crying his eyes out and his brother had also happy tears but also appeared to be trying to breathe between his brother's embrace and the uncomfortable set of armour he was wearing.

"You are alive Saito _*sniff*_ You are really alive. Mom and Dad are going to be so happy to see you well."

"Brother I am happy to see you too," Saito replies in tears. "Would you loosen your grip, it is getting a bit hard to breathe."

"Haven't lost your sense of humour yet Saito." Tightens his grip.

"This is Big Brother's love bear with it."

All around UN troops and Imperials looked at the brother's reunion with their mouth's wide open. Liam was in a state of shock. Some time ago he was about to blow up these guys, then he found out one of the natives was actually a Japanese citizen, now just seconds ago he just witnessed a cliché reunion which could only happen in movies and now confirming that boy is from his world and his elder brother is a JSDF trooper.

"Gate 02 give us a Sitrep, over."

"Central, the situation with the Imperials have been calmed down." taking a little pause."But a new one has arisen to take its place, over."

"Gate02 elaborate, over."

"Central we have just found a Japanese boy among the Imperial Knights. Over."

"What's is his condition 02 ?" Central frantically asked.

"Central, It appears that the boy has gone native. He was riding with the Imperial cavalry and seems he has been integrated himself in their society. Moreover, he has just reunited with his elder brother who is part of the JSDF, over."

There was a brief pause

"02, Command wants to meet the boy. You are ordered to bring him and his brother to the Formar mansion. over."

"Affirmative Central. Over and Out."

Liam places his radio back.

Meanwhile, after giving Saito a nearly crushing hug Higashi puts him back on the ground.

"How are mom and Dad?" Saito asked as the same expression of his brother.

Wiping his tears up he continued

"We all except our mother believed you are dead. She even refused to let your stuff to be cleared out of the house by our father believing you would one day return home and make a fuss over it." He chuckles slightly.

He Takes a glance at Saito's armour. "You know Saito, you look like a cosplay guy from the Fight of the legends," he comments. "Where the hell did you get this armour on you and How did you end up here?"

Saito sighs "Well it is a very long story. I still remember the day when I got transported to this world..."

"Mr Saito" Liam butts in between the happily conversing brothers. "Would you please follow me to the Formar mansion ?" he asked.

"Why?" Saito asked

"The Battlegroup command has been notified of your presence and they want to speak with you right now. I would like you and your brother to follow me please."

"Ehh..What about my friends, are they going to come with me?" As he takes a glance at Louise and Guiche who were having concerned looks.

"No, Command has only asked for you. But not to worry they will be arriving after they have been processed by our troops at the checkpoint. Now please follow me."

"HE IS NOT GOING ANYWHERE WITHOUT ME." But at the very moment, the pinkette yelled from behind.

"As his master, I demand you to let me go with him," Louise says as she storms towards them only to find her path blocked by UN soldiers.

"Get out of my way, you commoner footmen, can't you see I am going with my familiar," she yells at them but the soldiers didn't move an inch.

Saito turns towards Liam. "Can we just take her with us?, If we leave her here she might create a mess here."

"Sorry, Mr Saito my orders are clear."

"I understand." he sighs in defeat.

"So Saito, What was that master thing that girl is talking about ?" Higashi asked after hearing Louise outburst just seconds ago.

"It is a long story brother. I will tell you later." He says looking back at Louise who was in a heated argument with the Soldiers blocking her path.

"I have to do something before it turns into a mess," he said to himself before turning around and began to walk towards Louise. When Liam tries to stop him.

"I will be back in a minute, Mr Liam, we will go after I calm her down a little bit before she blows something or someone up. She had a very bad temper you know."

"Blow something up," Liam says to himself and shudders. Till now the only class of mages they had faced in combat were the ones capable of using the elements of fire, air and water and from the interrogation of the prisoners, these are the only classes of magic the mages basically use. If this girl has the power to blow things up, even a Humvee to dust this might be dangerous for his men.

Picking up his radio and changing the frequency he spoke slowly.

"Vasily, could you hear me."

"Yes my friend, I can hear you loud and clear."

"I want you to order one of your marksmen to keep an eye on the pink head, as per our native gone Japanese, she appears to have the power to blow things up. If she goes on a frenzy and points her wand at the boy or any of our men drop her."

"Got it my friend don't worry."

Then Liam goes on to inform the command of this new discovery.

"Miss you are not allowed into the city until you are processed through our checkpoint." The soldier says. "So we would be happy if you cooperate and move back in line."

"Why does Saito doesn't had to go through this processing of yours?"

"He is a special case. The command wants to meet with him so he will be going straight to the Formar's mansion. So would you please..." the cutoff in mid-sentence when Louise began to shout again.

"Hey I am here, Louise would you please calm down." Saito arrives

"SAITO come over here and order these fools to let me pass."

Saito shook his head." I can't do it, Louise."

Louise frowned.

"Try to understand Louise, they have the control here and we have to cooperate and follow their rules. So please calm down and don't make this hard for me." He pleaded with her.

"But I am worried about you." She says as she calms down and her voice softens up.

"What if they declare you as a traitor?, What if they take you forcefully back to your world in chains ?, What if they execute you for working with us ?, you also should understand Saito I am scared, I don't want to lose you again."

"Don't worry about me, Louise. Nothing of that sort of thing is going to happen to me." He assured her with a smile. "I have Def." he pats on the sword slung on his back. " And my brother to look after my back." he points his thumb at the man waiting for Saito and had a quite resemblance to him.

"So while I am out there please try to remain calm and don't lose your temper. Please," he begged her. Louise nods in response.

"Guiche please take care of her will I am not around for a while."

"You don't have to worry my friend, I will."

As Saito turned to leave Louise leaned forward and kissed him.

"Take care."She said.

"I will."

Saito then leaves to join his brother waiting for him in the light truck. While entering the truck Liam asks Saito to hand him over his weapon. He does so without any hesitation. Def is then put inside the back of the truck and as instructed he kept his silence and refrain itself to draw any unwanted attention to it.

"Captain Pina, wouldn't you be coming with us," Maleshenko asks while entering the passenger seat beside the driver.

"No, You may proceed. I will be going with my knights." She replies.

"Well then suit yourself. Pvt. Let's go."

Higashi turns the keys bringing his vehicle to life. the truck slowly began to move.

"You know Saito, I never imagined I my life you will be getting a girl before me, that too from a different world with pink hair." he teased. "You both will make a fine couple. Just a thing she looks a bit underage for you."

"Brother don't say that She is total of the legal age," Saito replies and suddenly regrets his decision and turns red in embarrassment.

Higashi let out a big laugh, Malashenko chuckles and Saito buries his face in his palms. Def, on the other hand, kept himself from bursting into laughter like Higashi. The truck began to speed up and goes straight towards the Formar Mansion the regional HQ of the area until the FOB is constructed.

* * *

Formar Mansion. UNTF Temp Command Centre.

Col. Romanov stood outside on the mansion grounds personally directing the set up of AA defences inside its walls. He was not taking any chances though the enemy was primitive according to their standards they still possess the ability to conduct an aerial assault. Until the construction of the FOB outside the city, the mansion's guest house acted as the temporary Command Centre for his forces.

"Sir, they are coming." His radio operator spoke up.

" _Khorosho"_ He replied turning at his XO "Take it over."

 _"Da Ser"_ his XO replied.

"Operator, get me Lt. Itami and tell him to come to my office, I might be needing his expertise in dealing with our new guest."

His operator nods and began contacting him. Meanwhile, Romanov left for his temporary office inside the guest house. Not long ago he received a starling info from the units posted at the east gate that another Japanese citizen had been found. What caught him off guard was the boy according to the reports have been accompanying the Imperial cavalry not as a prisoner but as a combatant. Though being sceptical about this report it was confirmed he is a Japanese when a JSDF trooper recognised him as his younger brother. He ordered both the Japanese men to be brought to him as quick as possible. Not losing any time notified the Central High command at Fort Endurance about this latest development and got command's permission to interview him.

*Knock* *Knock*

"Come in."

His aide enters the room. "Sir, the command staff is waiting for you in the conference room."

"Alright, you may leave."

"Yes, sir." his aide salutes and leaves.

A few minutes later Romanov leaves his office making a beeline to the conference room.

As he enters Itami and other international officers from the combat group quickly stood in attention position and salute him.

"At ease, Gentlemen." He salutes them back.

Walking across the room he took his seat on the conference table and gestured his officers to take their own.

"When will our guest be arriving." Major Cadden from the Canadian Army asks as he takes his seat.

"Soon."

Itami stood up.

"Sir, with all due respect, why I am being called to attain this briefing instead ."

Clearing his throat Romanov spoke up

"First of all, The person we found is a Japanese citizen, he is happens to be a family member of one of the men from your Platoon. Second, as you know along with his men, Kengun is three hours away from here at the base and he is on the way as I speak. So you are acting as his substitution until he arrives I suggest you note down everything you see here so you can present a report to him when he arrives. Got it Lieutenant " He replies to him calmly.

"Yes, sir," Itami responds before taking his seat.

A few minutes later a knock was heard on the door and one of the guards outside enters the room.

"Sir, they have arrived."

"Good, let them in."

"Yes, sir." The soldier retracts back and a few seconds later a JSDF trooper closely followed by a teenage donned in a blue loose, long-sleeved jacket like top with a pair of black jeans and blue and sneakers.

"Saito, I never thought you will be wearing your old clothes to this day. Also under that freaking two-ton heavy armour." Higashi whispers.

"Those were sets were too much uncomfortable for me to wear. These clothes were only keeping me from stripping myself from that armour and getting zapped by Louise," he whispers back.

"So you must be..."

"Leading Private Higara Higashi, sir," Higashi spoke up as he stood in attention and presented a salute. "And this is my younger brother Higara Saito, sir." He introduced him.

"Both of you please take your seats, we have much to discuss." Romanov gestured both the brothers to take the chairs positioned facing towards them. It appeared like a military tribunal to Higashi as he slightly shivered by the sight of cold looking stares he and his brother were receiving instead of Saito of course who was still maintained his carefree attitude.

* * *

Italica, Road to Formar Mansion.

The Imperial and Tristanian party moved through the busy Italican street, now joined by Napoleon from the Griffon knights who came to receive them. They were under heavy UN escort with Humvees and infantry formed a cordon around them as they move.

This was quite different what Bozes and her knights expected to see. Instead of townspeople cowering in fear or hiding in their homes in the sight of the foreign soldiers, they moved on in their lives like nothing had happened. On the way, she couldn't find any signs of looting or pillaging happened anywhere in the city. Though the signs of a battle being fought were present outside the walls and the buildings near the vicinity of the gateway.

She could feel the cold stares she and her knights were receiving from the townspeople. For the outworlders it was opposite, they waved at them with smiles and even some tried to give them fruits which most of them politely declined.

"Captain, why are the townspeople are friendly with the outworlders but have been giving us hateful and cold stares at us?" She asked Pina who rode beside her.

"They saved Italica."

"What!, isn't these outworlders were besieging the city in the first place ?" She asked shocked while drawing others attention.

"No," Pina replies as calmly as possible. "The Imperial fists lead an army of brigands to destroy the city in order to deny the outworlders of its resources. I along with the city's militia tried to hold them off but if not their timely arrival you would have found this city burned to the ground and my head stuck to a pike at the west gate."

Everyone gasps at this information.

"But Captain the fists would not do..."

"They follow the orders from his majesty the emperor only and I got news that emperor ordered the commencement of scorched Earth in the Italica province without consulting the council or the ruling count." Pina cut her off.

"Weren't the Imperial fists the strongest of the Imperial army ?" Louise joined in.

"You are right Lady Louise but not for them. I saw their 9 to 10 musketeers were able to hold off the entire combined fists and brigand assault at the gates until their reinforcements arrive in the early morning bringing their flying iron dragons and iron beasts with them and wiping out the fists and their brigands in a matter of minutes."

The group went silent as they digested this information.

"How large the brigand army was, Captain ?"

Thinking for awhile Pina replied.

"From the outworlder's observation, there were nearly 800 to 900 bandits not including the fists and their dragons. nearly 700 hundred of them lay dead along with the whole of the fists those were acting as their commanders. the remaining surrendered their weapons." she said coldly. "Their weapons are far more superior than anything we have. Empire will be doomed along with her allies if this war continues."

"But we have magic-"

"Which is useless against their weapons lady Louise." Napoleon said."I along with Captain Pina have first had witnessed what these people are capable of. Their muskets can fire without any need to reload, their carriages don't need horses to pull them. Their behemoth iron beasts could crush any ogre with ease and could plough through our walls like a knife through a sheet of paper."

He looks down."I feel ashamed to say this but we do not have a chance against them at all."

"What about the city, what about the countess?"

"They have decided to take the city under their control and ensure protection to the city and the countess. An official treaty is going to be signed tonight which will be making Italica province neutral in this war."

Suddenly an unknown noise could be heard in the air. The Tristanians and their Germanian allies quickly turned their heads towards the sky. They looked in awe as Three flying steel objects flew over their heads flying towards the Formal mansion.

"What are those ?" Guiche said awed by the sight of the flying machines

"Those are the flying dragons Guiche." Napoleon replied.

Unknown to them their conversation was clearly heard by the soldiers escorting them.

A Canadian soldier who walked right beside them chuckles

"They think our helicopters as flying dragons," he whispers to one of his squad mates.

"What would they call our jets then ?, Legendary flying birds that sprout fire from their backs." He replies chuckling by his own comment.

* * *

Formar Mansion, Conference Room.

"So you are saying, you were summoned to this world by a girl to be his familiar !" Romanov said surprised by this.

Saito nods his head.

When the interview started Saito began by explaining his arrival and the adventure he went through during the early life as a familiar of Louise and his stay at the Tristain Academy of magic. His interactions with the locals and the links he had with the royalty of the kingdom through his master. But he left the part where he was nearly beaten to death by Guiche and the part where he went into the house of Count Mott to save Siesta. The officers were surprised to see him understand Russian and French without the need of an interpreter. When asked he said to have been under a spell from Louise which helps him to understand and converse in any Halkagenian language.

"How were you treated by your so-called master ?" Itami asked curious to know what kind of treatment he got.

"Though the early days were very hard for me to go by, I was slowly able to cope up my life with her. She may be unreasonable at times but she is a really good person." Saito replied

"Where is she right now ?"

"She is with the rest of the Tristanian army and the Germanian knights at the east gateway."

"Good, she will be joining us soon when she will arrive," Romanov states signalling his radio operator standing behind him to relay the orders to fetch Louise upon her arrival at the mansion gates.

"Now please continue Mr Saito."

"Yes, sir."

Saito continued from where he had left. His mission to Albion, the rescue of Louise from the hands of Wardes and his contribution in facing the invasion as he flew a Zero facing the Albion dragon knights.

"Wait !, you are saying you flew a world war Zero. How is that possible you don't look like you are out of school and how the hell a fighter plane got there !" Cadden said not believing what he heard.

"Because of this." Saito removes his gloves from his left hand showing the runes to the officers.

"I don't know how, but this really helped me to fly that plane."

"I can't believe thi-" Romanov raised his hand. "Major, we are not on Earth anymore, we are in a world of magic and fantasy which two months ago believed to have only been in our bedtime stories. The boy speaks of truth I could see it in his eyes. The most important right now is how that Zero got there and are there any more Earth weapons are in this world."

Cadden nods

"So M. Saito are there any more weapons have you seen lying around?"

Saito nods and replies. "Yes, something I forgot to mention before, there is a LAW rocket launcher kept in the storage of the Tristan Academy of Magic."

'Another weapon that also a freaking rocket launcher.' Cadden said to himself

"Mind explaining how it got here?"

Saito narrates the tale the Old Osmond told him during his stay at the academy how he was saved in the hands of an unknown soldier from getting eaten by a dragon. The soldier was critically injured and didn't survive.

"From what I had heard from the description of the soldier from the old man, he must be an American soldier from the Vietnam era," Saito added.

The room went silent.

"The Americans have to be informed about this," Cadden said. "They will not like this."

"Yes, I know," Romanov replied. "But now is not the right time, we have to wait until the interview is over. We have to gather more information about this."

He turned towards Saito.

"Are you certain about this M. Saito ?"

"Yes, sir I am certain, moreover one of my countrymen the Zero's pilot was also teleported. I have already visited his burial at Tarbes one of the villages in Tristain."

The room went silent again.

"Do you know his name?! " Itami asked as he stood up from his seat breaking the silence.

"Sorry, but I don't remember the person's name."

"It's alright but JSDF command has to be notified of this." Itami got back to his seat.

After a few seconds of silence, Saito continued his story until the Tristanian and Germanian invasion of Albion and conquer of the Island and also his near death which he lied because no one is going to believe he got revived from the jaws of death during the fight against Albionish counterattack. He finished with his rise as a noble in the court of Tristain for his courage and bravery during the invasion.

"So you have fought a war for this kingdom Tristain and become part of their nobility due to the valour you showed on the field of battle," Romanov said slightly impressed by Saito's rise from a familiar to part of the royal court. He saw something some other officers failed to see in the boy an ally, a tool that might help in bringing the war to close much sooner than expected.

But some was bugging the boy from the beginning of the interview but out of fear he had kept it to himself. He could clearly see it on his face.

"What is it, M. Saito? you look a bit disturbed to me." He asked.

"It's nothing."

"Come on speak up my lad. Don't worry we are not going to eat you up." Cadden said with a smile to assure him.

"Mr Romano -"

"It's Colonel." Romanov corrected him.

"Yes sorry, Colonel Romanov I would like to ask why did you invade Germania?"

Romanov raised his eyebrow.

" what story did the Imperials spin for you to come to their aid?" he asked.

"According to the Germanians an unknown army invaded Germania through the gate after their delegation that had crossed through to open negotiations was massacred by the same army. The unprovoked and sudden invasion caught the Imperial military off guard but due to their valiantly effort the invaders were defeated after three days of fighting and were forced to withdraw the after sustaining heavy losses. Due to some magical complications, they couldn't destroy the gate and they had to fortify their positions and sealed the gate off to cease further incursions. But all their preparations and defences came to nought as on the holy day of Brimir's birth the Invading forces renewed their assault. But this time overwhelming the Imperial garrison at the gate and consolidating their position around it."

After a short pause, he continued.

"After the annihilation of the Imperial counterattack, the enemy went on the looting and pillaging villages all over Italica province. I along with the Tristanian army came here to save Italica from * _cough*_ Invaders."

"Hmm. I see our guest here is grossly misinformed by the Imperials" Cadden said.

Romanov and other officers nod in agreement.

"Private Higashi, haven't you informed your brother about the cause we are here for."

"N..No, sir. He didn't ask about it so I kept it to myself."

"It's alright, I can understand. Well, it is up to us then to educate M. Saito about the events that lead us here to this backwater world. Major would you please."

"Yes, sir," Cadden replies before placing his Tough book on the table and after a minute or two then turning it towards Saito to see. A video played on the screen.

At first, the video appeared to a normal at first, with people going on their daily lives as usual. For Saito, it was a bit nostalgic. he was quick to recognise the area to be a part of the Ginza district. During his time on Earth, he would sometimes to go the places around the district to chill with his friends. But suddenly all began to change. People started to run in panic. Leaving or throwing their belongings on the ground as they ran. Then soon he saw the cause of the panic and fear. Saito's eyes widen in shock and horror as he saw men on horses wearing Imperial cavalry uniform came rushing on the streets trampling over them as they cut many unarmed civilians to pieces.

The video ended there.

"It is the security footage from a nearby coffee show."

Another video played this time showing gun cam footage of a soldier walking through a ruined street covered with bodies of slain civilians, overturned cars and burning buildings. The ground was also littered with dead imperial soldiers everywhere. After a few minutes of walking the camera fell upon a gruesome sight. Right some meters away from the gate there flew the Germanian flag hoisted on top of a mound of dead bodies piled together.

This sight caused Saito's stomach to lose control. He threw up on the ground.

Romanov quickly closed the tough book. He stood up from his seat and walked towards Saito who kneeled on the ground. His brother slowly picked him up and Romanov handed him a glass of water which Saito gladly accepted.

"This is why we are here," he stated before gesturing one of his to get one of the maids to clean the floor.

"But, why?" Saito said as he returns to his composure. "Why did they do this ?"

"According to one of the Prisoners, they are the empire and they were here to bring order to our world," Itami said coldly as the video also brought back bad memories from that fateful day.

"On May 14th, 2019, the mysterious gate opened up on the streets of Ginza." Cadden began. "The Imperial army passed through the gate and lead a surprise invasion of Tokyo. Caught completely off guard Many innocent bystanders were slaughtered by the invading army as they began their brutal advance deeper into the city."

Saito was shocked and angry. He couldn't comprehend the fact that his world especially Tokyo, Capital of his homeland Japan was invaded by those Germanians.

"The Tokyo Police were overwhelmed by the numerically superior and magical army. If it was not for Lt. Itami and his quick thinking in leading civilians to the Imperial Palace many more would have been killed by the invading force. The SDF along with US Marines lead the counter-attack and dislodged the invaders after a gruelling three days city combat. The naval forces comprising of the SDF, US and Indian Naval vessels pounded Ginza in support of our advance. Imperials were defeated and were forced to withdraw back through the gate, but the damage was already done. Nearly 5000 civilians including a 1000 foreign nationals were dead or wounded during the attack. Several foreign embassies were also attacked and burned to the ground. Military sustained 2000 deaths during the counter-attack. Nearly another 1000 were counted as missing, taken as prisoners through the gate and are still unaccounted for to this day. This inter-dimensional invasion was seen as an alien attack by the media and people all over the world.

Saito was horrified. The extent of human lives lost in the attack was baffling for him. Moreover, most of the people those were killed and wounded were unarmed civilians.

"The fear of another gate opening up anywhere in the world caused militaries all over the world to go on high alert. The US had its national guard deployed in its major cities along with Russia and Indian military activating their reserves and for the first time in history, tanks were stationed in front of the Buckingham Palace. An emergency session was convened in the UN General assembly in the following days and due the mounting pressure from the affected nations the security council agreed upon to sent an International expeditionary force through the gate to support Japan in their endeavour in seeking justice for the lives lost at Tokyo. This lead to the formation of the United Nations Task Force."

"Our objective M. Saito is to the justice and reparations for the victims of the brutal attack not to take over this land."

'Though plans are already been made for acquiring more land and resources as a part of repartition from the natives after they are dealt with. This new frontier is going to be the New World for us.' Cadden thought.

"About the pillaging and looting. It actually happened but was conducted by the Imperial themselves. If you do not believe us feel free to ask any passing by Italican inhabitant. He or she will tell you the real truth." Itami pointed out.

"I..I am sorry. I didn't know. I am also sorry to doubt you." Saito stated as he grazes towards the floor.

"It is fine M. Saito you are unaware of the attack," Cadden replied.

Romanov watching Saito's solemn expression bent his head a little bit towards Cadden and whispers. "The boy appears to have been shaken to his core major I suggest we give let him off for a sometime before continuing. "I think the same, "Cadden said before turning towards Saito. "Private Higashi and M. Saito we will be taking a break you should both go and have some food and rest we will continue after some time."

"You can go and move around inside the mansion premises but you are not authorised to leave outside the mansion gates," Romanov added. "Am I clear?"

"Ye..Yes, sir."

"Good." Gesturing towards the door. "You may leave."

Higashi led his shaken brother out of the conference room.

"When is O'Brien coming with his entourage. I heard the Italican Countess want a formal treaty signed with UN as a whole." Romanov asks as he stood up.

"He will be here by afternoon," Cadden replies with a smirk. "He is leaving Hazama to deal with all the backlash we are going to get after the final death count is going to be published to the world media including the number of civilian deaths caused by the Imperial campaign of terror on their people."

"The media is going to chew us up."

"Well, we are far away to be concerned about that."

A minute later Romanov along with other officers also left the room back to their duties. After they left a maid enters the room to clean up the mess Saito threw up on the expensive looking carpet.

* * *

Imperial Army Camp, Outskirts of Italica.

Marshal Gramont along with rest of the tired Tristanian army arrives at the outskirts of Italica. His men have been force marching from their camp three days straight for them to arrive in time to help his son and their Germanian allies in lifting the siege and fighting off the outworlders those have already drained their strength after been in constant combat against the city's defenders and their relief force. But when he arrived he found the Rose Order Knights have been setting up their camp outside the city. As he gazes upon the unfinished camp his eyes suddenly fell upon the group of men in green armour along with their strange looking metal constructs guard the Italica gateway. There were also these strange looking men on the walls appeared to have been keeping the vigilant watch on the encamped imperials.

"My lord!" a Tristanian cavalryman came riding towards him. "It is good to see you have finally come."

"Who are those strange looking men soldier ?"

"My lord." he lowers his head. "We were late to arrive, It appears that the outworlders came taken control of the city. Young lord had gone inside the city to talk with the outworlder governor."

"What!, why haven't Lady Bozes lead the counter-attack?" he said bewildered to know the fall of an imperial city.

"I don't have any proper information sire, but it seems to order from their commander Lady Pina. According to her the enemy force is far more superior against us."

'I don't get it,' Gramont thought. 'The high and mighty Rose order just gave up without a fight. I have to know what the founder's sake is happening. My son might be taken hostage by these brutes.'

"Set up the camp along with the Imperials. I am going into the city to find my son."

"But Marshal." One of the knights protested.

"It's an order, I am going." Turning towards a bunch of freshly arrived cavalrymen. "You three follow me."

He turns around followed by his escorts rode towards the gate. Unknown to him all his moves were already been monitored by the UN troops and the higher-ups were already notified of their arrival.

 _To be continued_

* * *

 _So Here is the chapter. I know some people will be disappointed but this is the best I came up with and it took two months of my summer holiday to complete. Consider it as a stopgap chapter._

 _Don't forget to review, have any grievances feel free to PM me._

 _Stay tuned for next chapter: Game of Politics_


	12. 11 Consequence and Realization Pt I

**After the long Temporary Hiatus UN Peacekeeper is back with another chapter. Don't worry I am here to stay now.**

 **Special thanks to UNSC Know your Place, F-14 Tomcat Lover (wouldn't have possible to finish without your help) and every other reader sent me some ideas to work on(Too many to mention) for helping me when I was out of Ideas.**

* * *

 **CH- 11 Consequence and Realization Pt I**

Earth, Tokyo, Japan, Sept 5, 2019.

10:45 AM

Hazama waits patiently in his car as it drove through the busy streets of Tokyo towards the Diet building. Today was the day when he was to answer the summon from the Diet about the massive loss of civilian life in the Special Region.

It had been five days since the first UNTF report on the loss of life was presented before the General Assembly. As expected there was a massive outcry and several anti-war protests and demonstrations sprang about all around the world. Media outlets and demonstrators questioned the effectiveness of the UNTF in protecting the non-combatants. In social media and forum websites, people were getting into heated discussions arguments over the actions of the UNTF in the other world. Some Pundits even compared this to the UN failures in protecting civilians during the Yugoslav crisis of 1991.

Overall the demonstrations were mostly peaceful except Japan. Hazama flips on the page of the newspaper containing a full report on the events now called as the "War riot".

The Pacifists the only political group which was against the deployment of foreign troops in Japan went into a massive uproar. Even going further in organising anti-UN demonstrations all over the nation. Their leaders called him a War criminal and a lap dog of the Security Council for keeping his silence on this matter from the media for this long.

But things went really out of hand as the anti-war demonstrators were confronted by another group supporting the UN deployment in Japan. They were from the Ginza incident casualties society, a nongovernmental organisation set up by the people those have lost their livelihood and loved ones in the attack.

There were still nearly a thousand people missing after the incident. Any interference to the deployment meant the operations will be hampered or outright stopped. The family members of the victims weren't going to stand still and watch as the rescue ops go down the hill. They decided to take a stand.

This opportunity came when the society got a tip on an anti-war protest to be held on the 3rd of September. The protestors were going to block the main roadway leading to the Gate Garrison and halt the military traffic from entering the Garrison premises.

On 3 September when the anti-war protestors began their march from their assembly area, they were directly confronted by a human wall of society members, Pro-UN and other supporting groups blocking their way towards the Gate. Both the groups held their ground as one tried to break through the other. More or less the situation remained under control and peaceful except for a few and curses being thrown at one another.

But that peace didn't last long.

The spark that would transform this mostly peaceful confrontation into a massive brawl was just a small soda can hurl from the Anti War side into the Pro - interventionists.

The Pro- interventionists retaliated with similar soda can or water bottle attack. And in a matter of seconds dozens of soda cans, water bottles and now stones flew in the sky. The police units deployed to maintain peace were too few to control the raging mob and were overwhelmed and forced to withdraw from the scene.

With Police out of the way, the two groups brawled out on the street as it turned into a battleground. They fought with their fists and legs, stones from the broken pavement were used along with different objects the mob could get its hand on the street, including traffic cones, trash bins and signposts uprooted from the ground to be used as weapons.

After 15 minutes the Police now regrouped and reinforced moved back in dispersing the crowd and arresting the troublemakers thus ending the fight. Forty people from both sides were injured during the brawl with no serious injuries. Nearly a hundred arrested by the police.

"Still reading the same article again, General ?" A man in his mid-40s donned in a business suit asked him.

Lifting his head up he replied, "Yes Mr Audebert, never thought this kind of violence will be possible in my country, nonetheless in the nation's capital."

"Well, opening up an interdimensional gateway right on the middle of a metropolitan city was also not possible a couple of months ago, I suggest you get used to it."

Hazama slightly nods as he accepts the suggestion from the veteran Diplomat.

Hazama was glad he was not going to face the summon alone. René Audebert a French Diplomat who was dispatched by the Security Council along with rest of delegations arriving at Japan after the casualty report was published to the general Public. Unlike rest of the delegation, those were mostly neutral Audebert, on the other hand, had special orders, support Hazama and save the face of UNTF in the eyes of the World.

UNTF Military Intelligence usually submitted daily classified reports on the events happening in the Special Region back to Earth and directly to the UN Command situated, which kept the Security Council well updated and informed. These reports were also provided to the Japanese government but after proper censorship on sensitive info as some of them were leaked away to the public during the early days of the operation causing resentment and beginning of the Anti-war protests in Japan and other parts of the world.

Just a day after his crossing back on to Earth, Hazama and few of the command staff both from the JSDF and the international contingents had a secret video conference with the bigwigs in the UN about this debacle. This is where he made acquaintances with Audebert who had just arrived from New York as a representative from the security council.

Audebert hands him a file folder with a UN logo on it.

Hazama opens the folder slowly. As soon as his eyes fall upon the content in the folder his eyes lit up. The file consisted the recent diplomatic and military accomplishments in the Special Region.

"It this all true ?" he asked curiously through a hint of disbelief present in his voice. He had not received any recent Intel from the Special region since his crossing on the 1st September.

"Yes," Audebert replied. "While you were here O'Brien made sure you had a solid report to counter the question those politicians and those Media outlets calling us murderers."

Hazama nervousness slowly starts to fade away as he kept on flipping through the pages.

He slowly cracks a grin on his face. "This will surely seal off the mouth of those politicians we are going to deal with in the Diet. Thank you, Mr Audebert."

"Don't mention it, General, we are all in this together." He said with a smile. "And by the way, we will be having some guests with us today during the hearing."

"Guests?" Hazama asked narrowing his eyes.

"You will find out, don't worry about it."

* * *

Italica, Formar Mansion, Special Region.

(5 Days ago)

Saito and Higashi exited the mansion's guest quarters/Temp UN Command Centre. As soon as they are out Saito insisted on having his sword back, he didn't want it stolen as a souvenir by a soldier. Higashi denied him at first but relented after his brother convinced him that this sword has been with him since his arrival to this world and had saved him on numerous occasions. After picking up the sword from the HMMV both the brothers strolled down towards the mansion's garden which was mostly devoid of any military activity except for a few soldiers including the 3rd Recon resting around on the top of the garden's soft grass.

Saito finding an empty bench sat down while his brother went towards his platoon to get some food for them to eat. After a few seconds, he returned back holding two MRE packages and a water bottle.

"Here take this," Higashi said, extending an MRE pack towards Saito who reluctant at first accepted it.

Taking the place beside him Higashi opened up his pack and prepared to take the first bite when he noticed his brother hadn't unpacked his MRE but instead sat there motionless his graze towards the ground and appeared to have been lost in his own thoughts.

"Hey, you okay there, baby brother?" Higashi asked concerned about Saito's mental well being.

"It has been a year and a half since I was summoned on to this world. At first surviving in this new world without the boon of modern technology seemed hard for me. The food was bad, had to wash my master's aka my girlfriend's laundry and sleep on a haystack." Then he lets out a chuckle. "But I was able to cope up with it pretty fast, and within a few weeks I was able to make some friends in the Academy of Magic and make an unbreakable bond with the love of my life."

"I knew that you're an adaptable guy Saito" Higashi praised him. "Look at the bright side you got a girl before me."

Saito smiles at Higashi's playful comment which eases some of the tension that was brewing in his head on the current situation he was in.

"The mundane life I used to live back on Earth changed completely. I felt like a man of great significance here. I gained a lot of friends those were equally loyal to me as I am to them. They became like a second family to me. I gained a lot of recognition and fame in this world, including a title that makes me part of the Nobility, which I would have just dreamt about it back on Earth."

Saito lowers his head again. "Though my life is great here, deep inside me a hope that someday I will go back to my original home and family never died."

Higashi pats the head of his brother. "Don't worry Saito we will go back home sooner or later."

"But how I am gonna face Mom and Dad Higashi ?!, I have been on the side of the people those who invaded my home and massacred my people for no reason except for conquest. While you and the rest of the world came here for justice for those who died, I, on the other hand, rode out of Tristain to face you in battle. I cannot betray my second home and my friends here nor I go against you and the rest of the world. I don't know what to do now. I am feeling my betrayed you and dishonoured my family's name."

Higashi places his hand of Saito's shoulders and draws him near. "It is not your fault," he assures him. "You didn't know, you didn't do anything wrong. You just adapted to the situation you were in that's all. Mom and dad will not feel ashamed of what you did to survive. I am certain they would be proud of your achievements."

Saito didn't utter a word. He kept his gaze down on the ground before he spoke again.

"How are Mom and Dad?" he asked.

But his question was met with complete silence from Higashi, He appeared to be disturbed and was having a hard time to formulate an answer. Saito noticing from Higashi's expression came to a point something bad has happened to their parents.

"Had something happened to mom and dad ?!" Saito half yelled at Higashi.

"The...they are fine" Higashi replied as he stuttered on his words. He also tried his best to mask his sad and worried face.

Saito stared right into Higashi's eyes. "You're lying big bro," he said.

"Please." he pleaded "Don't lie or hide anything from me big bro. You know I love them as much as you do. I will never be able to forgive myself if something happened to them because of me. So, please tell me the truth Higashi, how are they? Were they able to cope up on my disappearance in our world ?" He inquired worriedly about his parent's well being.

Higashi sighs in defeat. After a few more seconds of silence, he began.

"The day you disappeared was the day when our family began to fall apart from within. Unlike me who had become a burden to our family as I began indulging myself too much in Otaku stuff, you, on the other hand, worked hard to gain good grades in school. I made our parents sad while you put off a smile on their face. You were the perfect son they ever wanted, not me who had sidetracked from the path they had laid for both of us. But everything changed when you suddenly disappeared without leaving a trace. We tried our best to find you. Father being a cop himself went above and beyond to find even a small clue on your disappearance. For mom, she did what she could. But all the search operations ended in complete failure and four months later after your disappeared, you were presumed as dead and the case was closed. This left a great scar in the hearts and minds of our parents. Father began to indulge himself in work to forget about you. He considered himself a failure as a cop for not being able to find you. Mom entered into a stage of depression due to your loss. For the next three months, it was really hard for them. It was marred by frequent fights and heated arguments that began to strain our lives as a whole. It was not until I finally decided to let go of my Otaku life and then enlisted in the JGSDF that they began to cope up and our lives began to somewhat normalize again. But then..." Higashi stopped. Bad memories began to roll into his head. He clenched his fists hard as he tried to maintain his composure and control the rage that was forming inside him.

Meanwhile, Saito could see his brother in this dilemma. The aura of a furious man was radiating from him and Saito didn't like where it was going.

"Then the Gate Happened !" Higashi said as he gritted his teeth in anger."Just a few weeks ago the invasion began people started to go missing without a trace. Authorities went on overdrive to find these people, old cases were reviewed upon to see any similarities and out of all, your case was the close one. Dad was optimistic when he knew your missing case was to reinvestigated again. The hope of finding you again rekindled in his heart. But before he could get back home, those Imperial German knockoffs invaded through their fucking magical portal killing and maiming hundreds of civilians !"

Higashi lowered his head his anger was replaced by sorrow. " During the attack dad was grievously injured."

"What !" Saito yelled shocked hearing his dad being a victim of the Germanian invasion. "How is he ?!, is he all right !"

He received no response from Higashi.

"Don't tell me..." Saito's eyes began to tear up. He began to expect the worst.

"Don't worry" Higashi assured him as he patted his head. "You know our father is a stubborn man and he is quite proud of it.

 ** _Flashback_**

Tokyo, Japan, May 14, 2019. (Invasion Day)

Senior Police Officer Fumitaka Higara drove his Patrol car as fast as possible towards the Ginza district. The situation in Ginza looked bleak, not long ago according to Dispatch an unknown army armed with medieval weapons invaded the district and began indiscriminatingly killing civilians.

Every available police officers in Tokyo were being dispatched towards the district. But truth to be told the situation was a complete mess. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police was not trained to face this kind of situation. The Riot Police Units and SAT were still being prepped and from oncoming radio traffic, violent attacks on the civilians are spreading out of the Ginza to other parts of the city.

After a few minutes on the road, he arrived at a Police barricade on the main street leading out of Ginza and towards the Imperial Palace. Exiting from his car followed by his partner he soon joined the barricade consisting of recently arrived patrol officers armed with only their service Revolvers. Hundreds of civilians crossing through their barricade bringing news of hordes of men armed with swords spears killing people left and right and they are coming this way.

The morale was low but still, the officers did their duty without a question.

Fumitaka stood near the Sgt who was leading the blockade and could hear clearly the conversation he was going through between him and HQ.

"Dispatch, reinforcements are needed out to the 2nd street, over."

"It's a negative 11-99 no reinforcements are left to send, all available units are diverted towards the imperial palace. Advising pulling out and regrouping with the rest of the unit at the Imperial Palace. Over."

"Dispatch, we cannot leave this street, there are still civilians out here those need our protection, over." Frustration was clearly visible in his voice.

Higara hears the chopping noise of the blades of a chopper. He looks up to see a police helicopter hovering over their heads. His face lit up to see some kind of support was still available for them, when out of nowhere a big red dragon snoops in from the sky screeching at the top on its voice towards the hovering chopper and releases its deadly fire breadth at it.

The Pilot tries to dodge the incoming fire but it was already too late. The breadth ploughs right into the passenger compartment of the chopper burning the officers inside alive. Pilotless and damaged the chopper began to spin out of control and crashes right into a nearby office building.

"Watch out !" Fumitaka yells as debris from the damaged building began to rain over them.

Fortunately, no one was hurt from the falling debris, but that cannot be said for the pilots. As the officers began to regroup their ears caught up the noise of the thunderous hopes of galloping horses coming down the street straight towards them.

"Hostiles incoming!" An officer yelled pointing towards a large squadron of European looking heavy cavalry charging behind a mob of civilians running away from them.

"What are you people waiting for FIRE !, protect the civilians are any cost." the Sgt. barked as he drew his service revolver and opened fired at the oncoming cavalrymen.

Other officers including Fumitaka followed suit, opening up with their Nambu M60 Revolvers. The accurate fire was enough to maul the charging cavalry. After losing some men they stopped turned back and withdrew back on the road they came.

Fumitaka lowered his revolver, for the first time in his service history did he drew his service weapon and killed a man. With adrenaline rushing through his veins he reloaded his weapon. He felt both excited and scared at the same time as they waited for the second wave.

"Sir, we should withdraw, we don't have ammunition for this kind of engagement." An officer informed the leading Sgt.

"Hmm...You are right." He said. The officers were given in a total of fifteen bullets and they had already spent five each.

As the Sgt was about the order a withdrawal he was interrupted by the blaring of battle horns being played from the enemy side. Soon the cavalry charged again this time joined by Dragoons armed with firearms firing their weapons as the charged towards the thin blue line. Musket balls hitting the patrol cars harmlessly forcing the officers to take cover. The officers retaliated and many cavalrymen fell dead but this time their charge didn't break. They were dangerously closer to the barricade.

The sight of incoming armoured men sent chills down Fumitaka's spine along with many other officers as they started to run out of ammunition.

"Retreat!" the Sgt. Yelled.

The officers began to step backwards and then turned back started to run towards their patrol vehicles. But the horses were faster and they jumped over the blocking vehicles and were now inside the barricade. It then turned into a slaughter. With no proper means to protect themselves any more several officers were hacked to pieces. Some tried to fight back but were overwhelmed by the European looking knights. Fumitaka was fortunate enough to get into his car, but his partner was not that lucky. As he made his way towards Fumitaka he was impaled by a spear.

"Akihiro!, No!" Fumitaka yelled as he saw in an old friend being stabbed to death. But it was not time to mourn. He quickly turned on the keys and started his car. Pulled the gear to reverse and backed away. Inaccurate musket fire shattered his windshield as he makes his escape. Turning his back up and he drove off from the barricade. The cavalry tried to chase him but they were too slow as he sped on.

After driving on for a few minutes he stopped his car. He slowly looks back sticking his head out of his car's window. There was a relief to find he was not being chased by the invaders but also sorrow with the realization he might be the only officer made it out alive from the barricade.

"Akihiro, Fujio, Hideshi, Eiichiro all are dead" he muttered to himself, a tear dropped from his eyes. These men were his very good friends he made during his service in the force, they were like brothers to him. Now from all of them, he was the only one to make out alive.

"Sorry my brothers," he said to himself as he sobbed in all lonesome. "I will take care of your families with all I can. I will avenge all of your deaths. I promise."

After a few minutes he regained control of his emotions, wiping tears out of his eyes he went through his remaining equipment only to find he had only two bullets left.

"All units be advised to regroup at the Imperial Palace."Suddenly the radio his is Patrol car crackled to life. "Hostile forces are heading towards the palace as we speak, all available officers are required to regroup at the Imperial Palace. Over." The message went in a loop.

Fumitaka restarted his car and drove straight towards the Imperial Palace. But after a few minutes on the road, he found out the main road leading to the Imperial Palace to be blocked by a string of wrecked vehicles littered all around the road. Dead invaders, Police officers and civilians decorated the ground.

He disembarked from his vehicle and decided to leg it to the palace. navigating through the road and avoiding the corpses he came upon what appeared to be a SWAT Van. Walking towards the van he found out the dismembered and mutilated corpses of the ten Anti-firearm Squad members littered all around the van surrounded by a large number of dead invaders.

"These men fought till the end." He said to himself.

Kneeling down near a dead officer he picked up his MP5 submachine gun and his pistol.

"Rest well my friend, you don't need this anymore." He spoke.

After scavenging through the bodies and the van he was able to gather three full and a half magazine for his new submachine gun and two mags for his new pistol. Paying his respects to the dead he moved on towards the palace.

For next hour he trekked through the burning city, the city appeared to be dead. He hid when a dragon flew over his head or an invader patrol passed through his way.

"Damn it," He said to himself. "Have the totally fallen to these primitive invaders ?"

"Kyaaaaaa!" When suddenly he heard a girl's voice.

He advanced towards the source in caution. Taking cover behind a overturned car he saw what was happening. Dozens of people men, women and even children were being forced into what appears to be a prison cart of some sort. Just not far away from that, a group of these barbarians were holding a school girl. From the expression these men had, they were up to no good.

'There are total of eight armed men.' he thought."They were all distracted, loading up or manhandling civilians if nothing is done now, I don't want to think what hell will befall on these people.'

He made up his mind. He cocked his weapon and prepared himself for the attack. When most of the civilians were inside the cage and away from the invaders he decided to act. Emerging from his cover he opened fire and controlled burst, hitting one of those invaders on his face. He fell dead on the ground. Others reacted by drawing their swords and charged at him but were taken down one by one with bullets filling their bodies with holes.

His MP5 clicked when he took down the fifth invader. Seeing him distracted the last three lurched at him, but the first two were swiftly taken down with a bullet in their heads from the last two bullets from his revolver.

The last attacker who appeared to be the leader of this group stood there baffled what just happened. Coming back to his senses and knowing he doesn't stand a chance against this man in blue he swiftly jumped onto his horse and ran away.

Fumitaka unlocked the door to the prison carriages and let the people out. They were overjoyed by the timely rescue from the officer and some hugged him in the sign of gratitude.

"Thank you, mister police officer." the schoolgirl thanked him for the rescue.

After the short celebration, Fumitaka calmed the group down. He then began to lead them towards the Tokyo Police HQ as he predicted that the imperial Palace must have been under the siege by now.

After navigating through alleyways avoiding the main road in fear of patrolling invaders the group found out an abandoned bus in workable condition.

"Who can drive a bus ?" he asked.

A man raised his hand from the group. "I can drive a truck," he said.

"That's all right to me," Fumitaka replied.

People began to load up on to the bus, many sighed in relief for finally finding a way out of this hell. But all their celebration came to nought when the thunderous hopes of oncoming heavy cavalry were heard by all. Looking back He saw it was the same cavalry unit that wiped out his fellow officers back at the barricade.

"Quickly start the bus." He yelled at the driver, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

The driver turned its keys to ignition but the bus didn't start. He tried again and again but with no results. People began to panic.

Cocking his weapon Fumitaka jumped out of the bus. "Keep trying I will hold them off."

Running back to the rear of the bus opened fire at the oncoming cavalry, killing dozens of them as their charge faltered. They regrouped and charged again, many fell but their charge didn't falter this time. But like an act of God, the bus started. Turning his head back he yelled at the top of his voice."Go, don't wait for me. I will hold them as much as I can just get out of here."

The driver didn't have to hear it twice. He floored on the accelerator and drove it away from Fumitaka.

He fired his last round from his Submachine then drew his pistol and kept firing but this time the enemy in front of him created some kind of a magical shield that stopped his bullets.

Surprised at first he snapped out of it and kept up his fire. But suddenly the enemy also retaliated by gunfire of their own. a musket ball grazed through his left leg. Unfazed he kept on firing when he was hit by another musket ball right on to his unprotected shoulder and another one on his bulletproof vest. He tumbled on the ground. Clutching his wounds he kept on firing at the enemy which had no effects of his attack. At last, he ran out of bullets.

The cavalrymen dismounted from their horses and advanced towards him with their weapons drawn. They were up for the kill and Fumitaka satisfied he had avenged his brothers lowered his empty pistol and prepared himself for his fate.

"Sorry Kanae." he muttered thinking of his wife and his sons "I cannot return home to you today. Sorry, Higashi for always being hard on you. I am sorry Saito for being a useless father and a police officer for not being able to find you and bring you back. Guess I will not be able to fulfil the promise I made to your mom."

He then closed his eyes waiting to feel the cold steel being thrust into his guts. But that never came. Instead, he felt a hand on his shoulders. Opening his eyes he stared right into a man much younger than Higashi Kneeling down beside him. He smiled and offered him water from his pouch. Being sceptical at first he accepted it.

 _"You are a very brave man"_ The invader spoke to him with an unknown tongue. _"You held out alone against the Mighty Imperial cavalry, that is quite commendable for a commoner like you."_ Though unable to understand a single word Fumitaka predicted he is being praised by this person.

 _"If the people of this land are this resilient, we are going to have a hard time taking over this land"_ He spoke as he stood up.

 _"Tadeas!, why this filthy Barbarian is being put out of misery"_ Another man arrived riding on his horse.

 _"Sir Vadim, this man fought us with utmost courage and gallantry at least he should have some recognition."_

 _"Are you a fool! he is just a puny barbarian, they don't know about honour or courage just finish him and be with it. We have a nation to conquer. There is still a vast amount of this city left to be pillaged and slaves to be gathered to be sent back to Germania."_

A soldier moves forward with his sword drawn when he was stopped by this young man. _"Stop"_ He yelled at the oncoming soldier and turned towards the older man in ornamental armour. _"Sir Vadim, we are here to extend our empire and rule these people, not to murder them all. Can't you see the marvels these natives have constructed? We have to cease all these senseless killing of the innocent, I cannot take this anymore."_

 _"What!"_ The older man bellowed. _"Don't defy my orders, Tadeas, you are just a lower noble and beneath me. Now finish this man and do not talk like this to me anymore."_

 _"No"_

 _"What?!"_

 _"I refuse."_

 _"Then move I will do it myself."_

The older man dismounted from his horse and drew his sword and walked towards him. But this time the man didn't stop him.

He stood over Fumitaka's body and prepared for the final strike. Fumitaka closed his eyes but suddenly felt some hot liquid splatter on his face. Opening his eyes he saw the older man head was gone and the liquid was his blood.

Within seconds several cavalrymen began to fall from automatic and accurate gunfire. The man that protected him and few others were able to mount onto their horses and scattered all around to avoid being shot. Soon he saw men from the US Marines uniform arriving at the scene.

"Corpsman!" one of them yelled."We have a wounded man here."

A US Marine with Red cross band on his right arm kneeled beside him and began to patch up his wounds.

"You will be alright." He assured him. But Fumitaka began to lose consciousness.

"We have to get him out of here." The marine informed his commander. "He has lost a lot of blood."

"Sullivan, Luis take this man back to the embassy, rest of you follow me we have a job to do."

They soon lift him onto a stretcher and loaded him on to a Humvee and drove him out of the combat zone.

 ** _Present_**

"That is how our father survived the ordeal. He was rescued by a platoon of Marines from the US Embassy those were deployed there to recon for the upcoming Marines Battalion from Okinawa. Mom nearly had a heart attack when she was informed about father's injuries. All those sacrifices the Tokyo Police made was not in vain. Hundreds of civilians survived because many stayed behind to hold the line. Father along with all the officers at the Ginza barricade was awarded Gallantry medals and special recognition for him because of the last stand he held out against the Germanian Cavalry." Higashi said.

"When I went to meet him at the hospital while he was recovering. He conveyed this whole tale to me. He is now sort of a celebrity officer in the country due to his achievements. When I asked how did he attained so much resilience You know what was his reply. The day I will rest when I will find my son. I will bring your brother back even from the depths of hell."

Saito didn't have the words to say. Deep inside he was exploding. His head was in a mess he didn't know what to do next. His hate for the Germanian grew with every minute and the feel of betraying his family and people was going overboard.

Meanwhile, Higashi had to go as his platoon commander needed him for something. Asking his brother to stay put and out of trouble he left.

Saito got what he needed the most. A place all alone where he could to think about the situation he is in right now and predict what course of action he should take next.

* * *

Italica, East Gate.

Siesta gulped in fear as she approached the massive gateway leading into the city. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead when her eyes saw the large Iron behemoths up close. For what rumours she had heard in the camp these were the ones that annihilated the Fearsome Germanian heavy Cavalry under their wheels and cannons.

But more terrifying from these behemoths were the men riding on them. She halted dead on her tracks as her eyes caught upon a man in full green uniform with his face covered with a skeleton mask glancing at her from atop of this behemoth. He along with rest of the outworlder soldiers were armed with what appeared to be a small and different version of black muskets and many had masks covering their faces. They all appeared quite intimidating.

She couldn't move until she felt a soft touch on her shoulders. Turning her head back her eyes met with the ones of the older ladies who was leading this group.

"Hey," she said with a soft voice. "Be brave, we cannot stop now, the men depend on us to get supplies for them by tonight, or we have to go without food for today again."

Siesta nods, it was a fact that the Tristanian army was basically running out of food. Their supply lines had been stretched thin and the supplies promised by the Germania hasn't arrived yet. They were basically surviving on rationing. But this cannot be said about the Rose order camp, they were properly supplied and fed. But being a unit mostly composed of nobles it was hard to convince their food with the common footmen. After arriving at the gates of Italica the army tried to resupply its stock but was stopped at the gates because of their orders not to let any Rose order or Tristanian soldier without permission from their commanders. But this was not extended to the townspeople. They could pass through after being searched. With no choice left the women in the camp decided to take up the charge and went ahead to get supplies from the town. From the prediction of the quartermaster, the small Tristanian army can survive with more thirty sacks of foodgrains combined with what they have for the next three days with rationing and until the additional supplies arrive.

Siesta mustered enough courage to move again. She self-motivated herself by thinking not only about the men those are going to be fortunate of them for having enough food to eat today but also about finally being able to have a chance to meet Saito after so many days. Since their departure from Tristain, she was unable to have a decent conversation with him. She had been working with the rest of the camp followers and have been too busy in her duties in the army kitchen.

Saito also most of the time resided with the rest of the officers in the army, where civilians were not permitted without proper authorization. She could sometimes saw glimpses of him moving around the camp along with Louise or training with the troops and there were lucky meetings with him when he used to come around to see how she was doing. When Saito was away on a special mission with the Germanian Knights, worried about his well being she would every day prayed to Brimir for his safe return. Guess the founder received her prayers as she found out after arrival that he was well and was inside the city not as a prisoner for the outworlder's but as an important guest.

They all finally arrived at the outworlder's checkpoint.

"Halt!." an outworlder soldier said as he signalled them to stop. "What is your purpose for the entry into the city ?" he asked.

"We are here to buy some food grains for our camp, sire." The leading lady replied.

"Which camp ?"

"The Tristanian army camp"

The outworlder quickly moved his hand to a small black box attached on his right shoulder and began to converse with someone most likely his superiors through it.

'Their magic appears to be much stronger than us' Siesta thought marvelled by this.

After a short and fast conversation through his communication box, the soldier asked the women to form a line and prepare themselves to be searched. There was some dissent among the group. No woman wanted to be touched by these men. Then surprise to many, a few women donned in the same clothing of the outworlder's green uniform arrived at the scene.

'They employ women in their army' Siesta thought and was also glad about it.

Soon every woman including her was thoroughly screened, numbered and listed by the soldiers. They were also interrogated before being allowed into the city. Any sharp objects found were confiscated, marked and promised to be returned while they way back to the camp. The process was short but tiring.

But for Siesta it worth it, she had finally had a chance after days to meet Saito after so many days apart.

* * *

Italica, Formar Mansion

Guiche De Chevalier Gramont and the rest of the Tristanians and Rose order knights finally arrived at the gate leading into the mansion grounds. Guiche sighed they did take a lot of time to reach their destination. On several occasions, their path was blocked by ongoing outworlder's military movement. Their large metallic carts do take a lot of space when they move through the city, forcing them to dismount from their horses and give way for it to pass. The final hindrance was his father's arrival, who according to their escorting outworlder officer was creating a commotion there. Guiche and Napoleon rode back as quick as possible and were able to arrive on time before the situation goes out of control. Napoleon was able to calm him down and briefed him on the current political and military situation in the city. Satisfied by his report Marshal Gramont also joined the group and desired to meet the outworlder officer who leads the defence of this city in peril heroically with few men at his disposal. Tabitha with her dragon was also given special entry into the city's airspace. This special permit did come with a warning, any hostile action detected from the dragon will be met with deadly force and it will be shot down out of the sky in no time.

Passing through the gate they began to notice the extent of outworlder's forces has entrenched themselves in the city. There were several green coloured tents all around the mansion gardens. Several of the outworlder soldiers in their green armour patrolled its walls along the few Italican guards survived the battle. This was not a rare sight as he had seen this happening all over the city. The law and order of Italica were now directly under the outworlder army.

"Italica is truly under the Outworlder's occupation." the Marshal grumbled.

"You are right father, you are right," Guiche muttered.

After the Tristanians and Rose knights were in the mansion grounds they were greeted by an older woman in a maid uniform. She was flanked by another younger maid and an outworlder soldier.

"Welcome Lords and Ladies," She said with a broad smile on her face."I am Kaine Head maid from the House of Formar, at your service. Welcome to Italica."

Tabitha and her Familiar dragon landed on the makeshift Helipad that had been set up by the UN engineers. The sudden arrival of the dragon spooked some of the soldiers not prepared to see a living dragon this big up close and personal. Some hurriedly readied their weapons only to be stopped by their officers those were informed about this flying beast. Tabitha dismounted from her dragon's back. She mutters some commands to her familiar before leaving her to rest on the middle of the helipad.

Gramont dismounts from his steed followed by others. "Please let our guards take care of your horses. The Countess awaits all your presence at once." The head maid says as she signals the few Italican guards waiting beside her to take the horses to the mansion's stables.

"Well then lead the way, we shouldn't keep the Countess waiting." He comments.

"As you say, milord, please this way."

Escorted by the maid they arrived at the steps leading into the marvellous mansion. Gramont stared in awe by the sight of this magnificent building. The elaborate designing of the Formar's mansion was far enough to rival the beauty of his own and several other noblemen homes back in Tristain. The only this that dismay him was the sight of the outworlder guarding the gates of the mansion.

"They are everywhere." He muttered under his breath.

But there was a sharp difference in the way these soldiers were dressed and acted.

These men were in a completely different set of armour and uniform. Garbed in their grey uniforms and masks on their faces they all were staring intensely in caution towards them. He could fell the glares in his veins he was receiving from these men from the moment he and the rest his group came into their sight.

As they rose up through the stairway, a maid walks through the doorway and informs Kaine about an important meeting that will be convened in a matter of minutes. And by her orders only important dignitaries those will be having to say in the treaty of Italica should only be allowed into the mansion now and forbade anyone except the mansion's staff for next hour. She is also to report back to Countess's side to act as her advisor.

Kaine nods and turns around and informs the group about the present development. In return, the Count is outraged as he didn't want his son to be all alone in enemy territory. But after some reassurance both from Pina and Kaine on Guiche safety, he calms down a bit.

Recomposing himself he then turns towards Guiche, Kirche, Louise, Tiffania and Tabitha orders them to stand down and wait for him and have some rest until he returns back from this meeting. Gramont followed by Napoleon and his senior officers went in.

The Germanians also followed suit, Pina along with her second in command Bozes and her mentor Grey entered the mansion for the meeting. The rest of the Rose Knights were led to the guest quarters by the Formar maids for refreshments. But the Tristanians decided to stay and rest outside.

The reason for this was being Guiche's annoyance the way the Rose order kept creating problems for them. Though he has a thing or two for those beautiful maidens, some of them do look down upon the Tristanian troops. Not to forget the with the ringlet hair nearly got every single one of them killed if Saito wasn't there to stop them from acting rash.

As Guiche got one of the maids to get some beverages for them, Louise came forward and inquired the maid about the whereabouts of Saito. She had been dead worried since he was taken away for what she perceives to be interrogated by the outworlder command. Interrogation means torture, though he had promised her he would be alright and would be safe with his recently met brother, she wasn't going to trust someone she met just a couple of hours ago.

Feeling pity for her, her arch-rival Kirche decided to lend a hand to beleaguered Louise. Tabitha decided to sit down and observe the out-worldly soldiers and the equipment in action. With nothing to do except wait for his father to return Guiche wanders off around the mansion grounds. Ignoring the stares he and his familiar Verdante an earth mole were receiving walls into the confines of the mansion gardens.

After a few steps, his ears caught upon the unmistakable voice of Saito and his magical talking sword Derf. From the way of the voice, they appeared to have been in a heated discussion.

Sneaking up he began to overhear the conversation those were indulged in.

"It is all my fault," Saito spoke in despair. "I am a traitor to my people."

"Calm down partner, you did nothing wrong."

"How can I Derf !, these Germanians invaded my nation, murdered hundreds..."

"Oh no" Mutters Guiche and turned around to get his friends.

Within a minute he returns back with Louise, Kirche and Tabitha in tow. They all had a concerned expression on their faces. Outrunning everyone was Louise. "Saito" She called out as she ran towards him in full speed as much as her small legs can take.

Noticing their sudden arrival Saito quickly stood up and wiped his tears. Upon reaching him Louise gave him a hug and held him tightly. Soon the rest of the group catch up to him.

She pulls herself back

"Are you alright Saito ?!" she asked frantically as she noticed his teary red eyes. "Why are you in tears, Did those men hurt you?!"

"Did they do something to you ?!" Kirche questioned him worried.

After a brief silence, Saito replied.

"No," he said, "They did nothing, Louise they just informed me about a disaster that had struck to my homeworld while I was here attending balls and parties in Tristain."

The images of the gruesome video he saw during his interrogation started to get into his head again. He slumped back on to his seat. Despair visible on his face.

"Saito, what happened ?" Tiffania inquired growing concerned about Saito.

"Do you really want to know ?"

"Yes." Spoke Louise. "we want to know. Saito, We all your friends here. Tell us so we can share your pain. It will make you feel better.

Saito lowered his head and took a deep breath.

"Very well then."

"We do all remember about the sudden arrival of a Germanian messenger during our victory party nearly two months ago, right ?"

"Yes !" Louise said while others nodded. "That messenger brought us the news about the beginning of a holy crusade against the elves. The empire wanted us to send our army to join their campaign which her Majesty refused due to our economic situations was not stable to begin another campaign this early. But did permit the ones who volunteered to join."

"From what I remember the Germanians with the help from the Gallian king Joseph was able to open up a magical gateway leading to the holy lands," Guiche added.

"It was no Holy land." Saito began. "Instead it leads directly into the heart of my nation's capital Tokyo city. Do you know what Empire did when they found out it was not their intended target but a complete different ?. They just attacked. They could have opened up diplomatic relation to my nation Japan. But No!, they wanted more power, more land to conquer in their meaningless endeavour of expansion, more people to enslave and crush their freedom under their heels."

The anger crept into Saito's heart as he balled his palms into fists.

" They invaded my country without any kind of provocation. Slaughtered hundreds as they marched on the streets of Tokyo. Men, women nor children were spared in their wake."

"No!, Germanian could never..." Kirche tries to respond to Saito's accusations on Germanian actions only to b cut off by him.

"Tell that to my father Kirche!" He yelled at her as he rose up from his bench." Or his colleagues who gave their lives defending the city against your Empire, Or to the families of those who were massacred and their mutilated bodies covered the streets of Tokyo."

The sudden aggressiveness in Saito's attitude caught everyone off guard. Kirche took a few steps back while her familiar Flame the fire Salamander sensing danger to his master prepared to defend her.

After the burst of anger Saito's anger was changed to sorrow, he slowly slums back on the bench. "I saw what your Empire did." He says as he shudders with the thought of images of civilians being chased by horsemen and cut to ribbons came to his mind. The video he saw earlier during his interrogation had been imprinted in his head. "I knew most of my father's friends personally." His eyes tear up again thinking about his father and his friends those he considered them as his brothers.

"In their eyes, I might be a traitor now. I have betrayed my parents, my people, everyone I knew on my world." He stood up and began to walk away from the others.

"Please don't follow me," he said.

"But Saito.." Louise tried to reason with him. But Saito raises his hand and stops her from getting closer.

"Sorry, Louise but I need some time alone." Turning towards Kirche "I am sorry for the outburst sometime ago. It was my fault for losing control after all." He then walks out of the mansion's garden

"But Saito, you can..." Louise tries to follow only feels a hand on her shoulders turning back she finds Tabitha.

"Let him be." She said with her usual cold voice though hints of concern are noticed in it.

"But"

"She is right Louise. "Guiche joins in "We shouldn't confront him now. Let him cool down a bit and then we will talk to him. Until then we have to wait and make sure he doesn't do something to him."

Louise nods. Though not wanting to leave Saito in this condition it was better for him if he is left alone for now.

 ** _5 minutes later_**

After leaving Louise and the rest of his friends behind. Saito wanders around the mansion grounds thinking about his family and the bleak future he might have with Louise after all of this is finally over.

But suddenly his thoughts are broken when his attention is diverted towards a commotion happening at the mansion's gateway. He would have disregarded it and moved on if he hadn't heard the recognizable voice of Siesta coming from that direction and by the looks of it she might be in some kind of trouble.

He runs to the spot to find Siesta is being restrained by the MPs. She was struggling furiously to break free from the hold of a soldier and was in tears. As soon as her eyes met Saito's she began to plead for his help.

"Master Saito, please help me."

"Wait!" Saito yelled as he strides to a nearby soldier. "I know her. Please let her go."

The Russian officer in charge was taken aback when he heard this young man donned in medieval armour spoke in Japanese. He wanted to inquire about this but this was not the right time. He called for his translator who began to speak to Saito in his behalf.

"Can't do, Sir." The Russian translator replied with a heavily accented Japanese. "She tried to break through our checkpoint here twice even though we informed her this is a restricted zone. As per orders, we have to take her into custody."

"Please let her go for this once, sir. She works for me and she is my responsibility, I will apologize for her."

"Sorry sir, but we have to follow our protocols." The soldier replies after he relays Saito's words to his officer who then signals one of his men to take Siesta away to the temp MP station.

"Hold it!" A voice is heard from behind.

Turning back Saito saw the face of the Russian officer who was with him this morning.

"What is going on here?!" The officer asked.

"Captain Malashenko, sir, this women tried to break through our checkpoint twice even though we asked her to leave as she didn't have proper clearance to enter. She was adamant to gain entry so we have to detain her for now."

"Please sir," Saito pleads to Malashenko."Her name is Siesta and she is a good friend of mine and has tried to gain entry to know about our whereabouts. She meant no harm to anyone. Please let her go for this once. I will make sure she doesn't break any laws again. Please."

Malashenko thinks for a few seconds before giving his reply.

"Let her go" he orders.

"But sir.."

"I will take full responsibility here."

The officer concedes and has Siesta's restrains removed. As soon as out of restraints she quickly hugs on to Saito for gratitude.

Pulling her away. Saito then turns towards Malashenko and bows before him. This gesture is also followed by Siesta.

"Thank you for your help Mr.."  
"Captain Malashenko." He introduces himself and extends his hands. Which Saito gladly accepts.

"I am Saito H.."

"I know who you are Mr Higara. The Jap who went native." He commented. When suddenly his radio crackled to life and after a brief conversation he prepared to leave.

"Just did what I thought was right to do." He said. " Just ask your friends not to get into trouble very often. I have to go now go duties to attend to, see you later then." He then began to walk towards a string of tents erected inside the castle mansion.

Saito sighs and turns towards Siesta who was still holding on to his arms in fear of being dragged away from the soldiers.

"Ehh...You can let go of me now Siesta. You are completely safe now"

She blushes and draws her arms away.

"Thank you for saving me again master Saito."

"I didn't do anything Siesta, you should have thanked Captain Malashenko instead. If he hadn't intervened you would have been penalised for trying to break into the Manson. Not to forget what are you doing here ?" He inquired.

"Master I was concerned about you and Lady Louise's safety and well being. When I heard you and Lady Louise might be present here I couldn't stop myself from coming to find you. I apologize for being such an inconvenience for you." She says and lowers her head a bit.

Saito places his hands on Siesta's shoulders. "Don't be sad, you were just worried about us. I would have done the same if I was in your place."

This brought a smile on Siesta's face.

"I haven't seen Lady Louise around is she not with you?" She asked.

"She was..."

"SAITO!"

"Never mind she is here." He said looking back to see Louise along with Kirche, Guiche holding Derf and Tabitha jogged towards him in worried.

Upon arriving they greeted Siesta who stood beside Saito and was receiving cold glares from Louise.

"Saito we have something very important to discuss, " Guiche asked as he handed Derf to Saito.

"Lead the way then."

"Not here follow me."

The group along with Siesta began to walk back towards the Gardens. On the way Siesta was filled up by Kirche on the Dilemma Saito was in and he was now masking his pain from her not to make her worry. Siesta readily accepted the offer to help her master/ Crush from despair.

 _5minutes later_

"Saito do you still feel you betrayed you, people," Guiche asked as they all settled down in and around the bench Saito used some time ago.

"Yes" was the reply he received. "How can't I Guiche ?, how can't I.

Guiche slowly places his hand on Saito's shoulder. "You did nothing wrong. We Tristanians or anyone from the academy including you have no part in this." Saito slowly turns his head towards Guiche.

"We never took part in the invasion of your lands or every faced your kingdom's armies in battle but instead what I have heard from Captain Napoleon we stood shoulder to shoulder with them in defending Italica against an attack from the Imperial deserters turned bandits. If wasn't for them we would arrive at the sight of an already pillaged and ruined city."

"Is it true ?" Saito asked with a hint of hope in his eyes.

"Yes. Napoleon's own words. We just had an opportunity to have a word with him when you went ahead to let off some of your frustration."

"But still..."

"But what Saito. You along with all of us have no part in this failed Germanian Endeavour of expansion. So please cheer up, I cannot see you this down, it hurts me a lot." Louise reassured him as she held on to his hands. But still, she could see doubt lingers in his eyes.

"Even though you guys say I am not a traitor. How can I convince my people, my family ?!"

"With the same confidence when you rescued from that leech Count Mott," Siesta spoke up.

"You are a brave and honest person Saito. The likes of one I haven't or will ever meet in my life. The person who does the right thing regardless of the consequences. I know they will believe you. They will understand why were you here. They will surely appreciate what great honour have you brought to your family and Homeland's name. If ever founder forbids you are to put on trial for your actions. I.. NO!, we all will stand by your side and do our best to help you."

Louise, Guiche, Kirche, Tiffania and Tabitha nods in agreement to Siesta's words.

"We will never turn our backs on you as you have always stood out for us," added Tiffania.

There was a round of silence from Saito.

As he processed all these in his head. His tension began to lighten up and he started to think straight.

Slowly lifting his head back and turned towards Louise with a small smile on his face.

"Thank you," he said softly. "Thank you all for all standing beside me in my time of need."

"That's what friends for." Spoke Derf. "Now get me out of this stupid sheath I need a fresh breath of air."

They all let out a collective sigh of relief. Their Saito had returned back for them. But for Saito doubt still lingers in his heart. But for the sake of his friends, he decides to bury it deep inside him.

After some time the group of friends had their some good morale boosting conversation among each other. Saito went to apologize again for his rude behaviour earlier to Kirche as though she was a Germanian that doesn't mean she had supported the attack. Then he went on to narrate wondrous tales of his Homeland called Japan. He also mentioned to all about Siesta's great grandfather from his homeland and to her astonishment she might be having an extended family right in Japan. He promised to take them all to Japan especially Louise to meet her parents one day.

Not far away Higashi peeked at them with a broad smile of his own as he saw his own little brother to laugh again. Deciding not to interrupt his fun he turned and left to rejoin his platoon in preparations for the arrival of the UNDF command for the ceremony tonight.

* * *

Formar mansion, Throne Room

Gramont was furious and frustrated beyond control. Not long ago he along with his Germanian allies were summoned to meet the ruling Countess of Italica. When they all entered the throne room to greet her, she broke the news to him about the treaty of Neutrality which will be signed by Italica with the outworldly power calling themselves as UNTF tonight.

Gramont tried his best to sway the Countess from signing this but to no avail. Not only his own knight captain Napoleon but also Rose order's leader Pina didn't utter a single word to support him.

He slammed his fists on the decorative table lay before him, startling the young Count who was seated on her throne. This action caused the Formar guards to tense up and gripped their halberds readying themselves to dive in to fight if needed to protect their mistress.

Gramont's anger was about the road leading to Tristania's border is now wide open for the outworlders to expand. He didn't care about Germania nor about Gallia 'they all can go to hell' was ringing in his thought. His only worry now was the outworlders marching through the land of Tristania virtually unopposed as the kingdom lay in economic turmoil.

Gramont after a minute of heavy breathing calmed down from his intense rage. He quickly lowered his head and apologized for his rash behaviour earlier.

"I can understand your dilemma lord marshal, but this is good for my people. We have been abandoned by our imperial overlord to fend for ourselves. They even lowered themselves in seeking services from Bandits to burn our farms and villages in the name to save the Empire. When it was not enough, deployed the Imperial fists to do their dishonourable job. I don't know how many of my subjects have lost their lives during the so-called scorched Earth. If the outworlders hadn't intervened and made a stop to all the killing done by the Imperial forces in the right time you would have been standing on the ashes of Italica and the whole of Formar Province." Myui spoke with firmness never been seen in her words before

"I understand." was Gramont's reply.

"I also ask you to be present during the signing of the Treaty. You should have a dialogue with the outworlder's leadership. I am sure you will not be disappointed and they will clear all the doubts you have about them. Lord Marshal."

"Yes Milady, I will." Gramont replies and nods."Now I must retire back to my camp and make preparations for tonight."

With this Gramont takes his leave leaving the Germanians and Italicans to continue their dialogue. He was not needed here anymore. As he walks through the hallways of the mansion towards its exited, he was suddenly greeted by one of his knights who was pacing towards him in haste.

As soon as he reached Gramont he quickly took a knee.

"Marshal!" the Knight spoke with trembling voice. "Young lord and his friends have been taken into outworlder's custody for interrogation."

"What?!" Gramont bellowed."Why?"

"I don't know milord but I saw them being led away under guard towards the outsider's camp we must make haste before something happens."

With the thought of his youngest son in serious trouble began to pace towards the exit and then towards Mansion guest house or Outworlder's Headquarters.

 _To be continued_

* * *

 _Phew.. At last, it is over. Just to point out I was unable to acquire a Beta reader and my Editor is out of contact for some time now(Probably playing ARMA whole day). So expect some errors. When I am back in touch will edit and repost it later on._

 _Don't forget to review, have any grievances feel free to PM me._

 _Stay tuned for the next chapter:_ _Consequence and Realization Pt II_


	13. 12 Consequence and Realization Pt II

**CH- 11 Consequence and Realization Pt-2**

Italica, Formar Mansion Grounds

Saito tensed up as he saw the piercing glares he and his friends were receiving from the soldiers as they stood just outside the Guesthouse which is now being used as UNTF temporary Headquarters.

Just a couple of minutes ago he was having a very good time with his friends after they were able to make him realize he had no part in the attack of his country and the death of his people. But doubt still lingers though it has been buried now deep inside his heart. But every happy moment he had for a small time came crashing down when he was greeted by soldiers those came to take him back for the completion of his briefing with the UN command. His friends protested and tried to intervene in fear of him plunged back into despair again, but he stopped them and readily stood up to go with them. But Louise, as she is, didn't want him to face his fears alone again and decided to join in along with everyone else.

To his surprise though the soldiers didn't mind these new additions. They casually informed him the pink haired girl was about to be asked to join when she spoke up as she was specifically mentioned by their superiors to be brought with him. As they didn't want any incidents to occur that might strain their relationship with the local nobility others after they informed the command were also allowed to come along.

"Saito Higara ?" A JSDF soldier at the HQ's entrance asked.

"Yes," Saito came forward.

"Please this way" He lead them all through the doorway before stopping at a makeshift checkpoint.

"Please hand over your weapons and any instrument of magic here." A Canadian Soldier at guard said in heavy accented Germanian. Gesturing towards a waiting soldier."Don't worry they will be returned back to you when you return."

"We are ready to relinquish our weapons," Kirche replied snidely. "But our wands are the mark of our status we cannot give it up to some unknown footman. "

Others except Saito and Siesta nodded in agreement. This was overall their only mark of status in foreign lands and also the only means of protection when they are unarmed.

But the soldier was not convinced.

"I am sorry, miss but we have our orders no weapons including your wands aren't allowed inside for security reasons."

Kirche was about to argue with the soldier when Saito intervenes.

"Please, guys." He said raising his hand to ease the mounting tension. "Would you 'all cooperate.

"But Saito..."

"Zerbst please, just this once listen to me and do what these men say." He says sternly.

Kirche conceded. "Alright, I am doing this because of you."

She hands her wand to the guard who quickly places it on a box nearby. In quick succession, others followed her and all give up their weapons including their wands to the guard and moved on.

After trekking through the hallway they finally reach the doors of the conference room. The officer who was escorting them asked them to wait outside as he knocked on the door entered in.

Saito and the rest of his group took the seats outside the room. Saito was nervous. He had no idea what questions he is going to be asked next ?, Is his friends are going to be involved in this ? and why Louise has been asked for ?!, he had already informed almost everything he knew about her.

The nervousness and tension he had reached a new height when the conference room door creaked open.

A JSDF officer came out and turned towards Saito.

"Mr Saito Col. Romanov and his staff are waiting for you," he said as he made a welcoming gesture for him to enter.

Taking a deep breath Saito stood up.

"Take care," Louise says.

"I will." What Saito replies as he walks right in.

* * *

Formar Mansion, Conference Room

Col. Romanov grazes at the young man in a blue long-sleeved jacket like top entering the room. He was quick to read his facial features. The boy was nervous but not that much when he first met them.

"Welcome Back. Mr Saito." He said."You are feeling well now ?"

The boy nods in response.

"Good. But just to inform you before we start your brother Pvt. Higashi will not be joining us as he is required somewhere else. Are you fine with that ?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Very well then let us be over with it."

Romanov took a sip of water from the glass that was provided to him.

"Mr Saito I see you have brought your friends with you."

"I am sorry sir but they were worried for me and wouldn't let me go alone."

"No worries lad. They are going to be very useful for us in the completion of this briefing." Major Cadden states.

"Mr Saito" Romanov began. "during our last conversation you said you were magically summoned here by a.." he takes a glance at his notes." girl to be her servant or familiar according to you."

"Yes, when I got here she was the one who took me in and provided a place to reside," Saito replied.

"What is her name ?" Cadden asks him.

"Louise."

"Is she waiting for you outside this room ?"

Saito nods in response.

"Would you mind if we have her to join us in this briefing and ask a few questions ?"

"N...No sir." Saito stutters a bit.

"Excellent then," Romanov spoke. He then signals one of his aides to get the girl.

In a matter of minute, the door would be flung open again as a petite girl in long, pink hair would enter the room. She was what appeared to be a school uniform with a black cape dangling behind her. The girl's expression was clearly stated she was nervous and scared and she was trying her level best to mask it. She ceremoniously walked in front of the officers and gave them a respectable bow.

"I am Chevalier Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière." She introduced herself.

'Well, that is quite a name' Romanov said under his breath.

"Can you understand my language miss Louise ?"

"Ye...es of course milord. You are speaking in simple Albionish."

"Great and hello I am Col. Romanov from the Russian Federation Armed Forces and current commander of the Combat group Beta and these gentlemen are my command staff. I personally thank you for taking care of one of ours in the time of his need," he said with a smile.

"Than..Thank you milord." The girl replied. Her nervousness slowly fades by this compliment.

We have also been informed by Mr Saito here that you two both had a great adventure together last year. We just want to hear about those tales. Would be kind enough to narrate them to us ?"

"Of course milord I definitely will," Louise replied as her face lit up like a little girl who had just been handed with a box of candy. But on the other hand, it was clearly visible that her partner Saito was not too happy about it. His calm expression had been changed to distress, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. It was as if his questionable internet browsing history is about to be unfolded in front of his parents.

Noticing this Romanov cracked a smile. He had been expecting this and had discussed with his staff beforehand. The boy was hiding something from them from the beginning of the briefing began. Romanov didn't want to force them out of him as he is a Japanese citizen and will not sit well with the Japanese Government and the JSDF. Also Being fairly knowledgeable about the mindset of these young and naive nobles he had met so far except few exceptions he was confident he could make them speak if they are buttered off enough. He used his words carefully to be able to extract this more sensitive info on Saito's misadventure from his so-called master. And by the looks of it, she has played right into his hands.

"So it was during my summoning ritual in the academy when I summoned Saito..." She began to narrate every event important according to her occurred with Saito since he came to her life. At first, it was similar to the narration presented by Saito. But soon it began to change and clearly shed light to the facts he tried to hide in dark. The first serious matter they came to know was the duel Saito had with a student named Guiche. This is where the power of previously mentioned Saito's familiar runes came into play. Where he is able to defeat Guiche's constructs or golems armed with a sword.

"Intriguing" muttered Romanov. Meanwhile, Itami as ordered kept on scribbling every point he considered important for his report to his superiors later on.

The next was when Saito went alone to rescue a Siesta from the clutches of Count Mott the royal messenger of Tristain who had forcefully taken the girl as his personal maid and mistress.

This new info on the existing method of forcing young girls into personal services caused some of the officers to have a disgusted face. Saito nearly got himself killed by this Triangle mage before being saved by her and Kirche. They were able to convince the Count and accepting their apologies and exchanged Siesta with the famous 'Summoned book'.

This new info on the existing method of forcing young girls into personal services caused Romanov and his staff members to fell disgusted on this Halk's present social system.

Recomposing himself Cadden raised his hand.

"Can you describe this 'Summoned book' you used to make the exchange ?" he asked.

"I don't know" Louise replied, "It was a Zerbst family treasure."

Cadden turns to Saito.

"Do you know about this book Mr Saito ?"

"It was an old Porn Magazine." He answered.

"What !, how that thing got there ?!" Cadden exclaimed shocked to hear this.

"I myself don't know much about it. All I can tell it was summoned to this world like I was."

The other UN officers were also shocked to hear this.

"They summoned a boy then a porn magazine. Then what? a tank or an ICBM." Romanov mutters.

The command staff a short but intense discussion about this matter. After deciding to deal with this later they asked Louise to continue. This storytime from the pinkette was turning fruitful.

She then went over the tale where when Saito fought and won against the Fouquet and her Golem with the use of the mighty Staff of Destruction i.e the M27 LAW Rocket launcher about which the staff was informed beforehand during the last briefing.

She then goes on narrating about their mission to Albion to deliver an indiscreet letter from their Ruling Monarch Henrietta to the Prince of Albion. There Saito would rescue her from getting forcefully married to a treacherous knight Wardes but were unable to save the prince from his wrath. They are rescued by the rest of their friends as they make their escape.

"So now the Albion kingdom was under the control of this usurper Cromwell ?"

"Yes, Lord General. He was the vilest person I ever met." Lousie replies with disgust in her voice.

"Please carry on."

"So then after we..." As Louise had started to enter the part of the Albonish Invasion of a knock at the door is heard.

"Come in"

A soldier in Canadian uniform enters in.

"Sir!" He salutes them."We have a situation developing at the gateway."

 **(HQ Gateway)**

"I demand to your commander and want to know why my son is detained !" General Gramont fuming yells at the outworlder footmen blocking his path.

As soon as he was informed by one his men that his son along with rest of his group was presumably detained, he rushed as fast as he can into the outworlder's camp, completely disregarding his personal safety and the fact he was now in deep enemy encampment and had only a few exhausted Griffon knights as his bodyguards. Napoleon who followed his general loyally continued to attract intense glares from the soldiers they passed by and could clearly see some of them talking into their magical communication boxes.

Gramont, on the other hand, didn't care about all this. His eyes were fixated upon the Outworlder's HQ and his desire to rescue his son and all the Tristanians before any harm could be done.

The Outworlder footman tried his best to Gramont down but to no avail. The fear of an unforeseen incident happening began to rise as Napoleon could see his lord's hand twitching on the hilt of his sword.

But to his and his lord's relief they saw Guiche walking out of the Outworlder's HQ safe and well.

Both Guiche and Marshal Gramont shared an embrace before the boy began to explain why they were here. He also informed them that they were requested by the commander of this army and should make haste to personally meet him in the conference chamber.

But before they could enter Gramont along with his men were asked to hand over their weapons because of security concerns. Gramont, as expected by Napoleon, refused to do so. But before any more escalations could happen a compromise was made. Due to his high-level position in the Tristain army, Gramont was allowed to enter with his sword and wand while his guards were completely disarmed.

As they all began to move suddenly a voice was heard from behind

"Hey guys take me with you, I am getting bored here doing nothing just staring at these weird green people."

The soldiers quickly turned towards the source of this voice only to see there was nothing except a few swords kept on the rack.

"You heard that right." A Canadian asked.

" _Da_." The Malashenko replied cautiously looking around.

"Hey man, I am over here."

He quickly shifts his graze again at the swords and there what he saw astonished him. He took a stumbled a few steps back by the sight of this talking sword. He along with the rest of the guards quickly cocked their weapons and aimed at it.

"Hey, hey chill out. Haven't you all heard about a magical talking sword ever in your life."

"No."

"Well, hello then nice to meet you all."

Just then Guiche intervened.

"He is Saito's sword. Though he talks a lot, he means us no harm."

"Yes, listen to the blonde boy. I just want to be with my buddy Saito, that's all."

Malashenko informs command about this. In return, they were bewildered to hear this and even inquired him if he had consumed any vodka still on duty. After a minute or two of deliberation, it was decided the sword to be brought in to prove the sword was really a live one.

 **(Conference Room)**

"...and then the Heretic Cromwell was captured and was imprisoned in the gallows of Tristain. But before we can obtain any information from him he somehow was mysteriously died in his own cell."

Louise took a short pause.

"After a week of preparations, Tristain along with Germania counter-invaded Albion..."

Louise continued on while Cadden kept on scribing down the facts he considered will be useful in future on his note pad.

The girl had been ranting her personal tale for last half an hour nonstop now. Though her tale is could have been exaggerated at some points. It did add a lot of facts that were left out by the Japanese boy.

But her mostly fantasy tale of daily life turned dark as she entered the phase of the invasion of Albion by the Tristan and Germanian alliance. First was the sudden rebellion of Tristanian troops during the invasion when they turned on their own commanders for no apparent reason. The soldiers appeared to have lost their minds and were attacking anyone in their sight the leading Tristanian was murdered by his own troops. The remaining loyal troops and the Queen herself narrowly survived. But misfortune and failure were stuck to them as they were now pursued by a large Albion counter-attack. But what sent shockwave around the room was that Saito was the one who held off alone the whole Albion army at bay till the Tristanians were able to escape and according to Louise died in combat against the Albion forces.

"HOW can this be possible ?!" Romanov who till now had held a calm posture exclaimed as he rose from his seat. He had expected to face dragons, stone monsters mages and elves and their mysterious magic when he was given the assignment to lead the Russian forces in the special region. But this was beyond all this. According to the girl, this boy barely out of teen took on an army of 70,000 and died in action but was later resurrected by some weird and powerful magic.

"It is milord. But by the grace of the founder, he was resurrected in time by Tiffania who brought him back to us and his runes of Gandalfr helped him to fight against this powerful army." She ended with a cheerful tone.

There was a moment of silence as Romanov and rest of the command digested this.

"These runes she kept on mentioning are something we have to gather more info on." He whispered to Cadden.

"Not to forget, this girl literally told us about her ability to create large explosions from her magic enough to disintegrate those large flying ships of theirs." Romanov nods in response.

"Along with this Tiffania, who can bring dead back to life." A German officer added in a hushed tone.

The silence was broken when a soldier entered in. He was holding an old sword in his left hand as he presented a salute.

"This is the sword you were telling us about Captain." He inquired.

" _Da ser"_ Malashenko replies as he stood in attention.

"Hello nice to finally make acquaintance." the sword suddenly spoke. "I am Derflinger, my buddy's Saito's

While few officers eyes were widened by hearing this inanimate object speak. Romanov didn't flinch. He had already heard enough to expect this.

"Hello, Mr Derflinger. I am Col. Romanov and this is my staff. Please don't mind my officers they have never seen a talking sword before."

"Don't worry sir. I take that a lot."

After a short conversation between the talking sword who had been handed to Saito and Romanov they now somewhat had a slight knowledge about this runes, the boy had on his hands. These give him offensive capabilities and also mastery in using any weapons. Which he had already demonstrated by the use of the WW2 Zero.

As the conversation came to close he did make a mental note inform Saito's capabilities to the military intelligence and also not to let him near any weapon in UN arsenal as his loyalties about the long tale are questionable at best.

"Lady Louise and Mr Saito thank you for your time please wait outside. We will call you back in a few minutes."

As soon as the couple was out of the room. The officers entered into a vigorous discussion. After a few minutes, it was decided to inform this boy's abilities to the high command and to keep constant surveillance on the activities of the boy till he is in the city. It was also quite apparent that the Kingdom of Tristain had been plunged into this conflict due to their forcefully due to their alliance with Germania and also hadn't taken part in the initial invasion of Ginza and the subsequent battles fought later on. They though a belligerent in the war they hadn't till now entered into combat with UN forces but instead fought with them in the battle of Italica. After much deliberation, it was decided to make a proposition to the Tristanian leadership waiting just outside the door.

Romanov did contact his operational commander O, Brien about this and got approval to continue his plan on Tristain.

After they settled down the Tristanian leadership was invited in the room. The party was now led by a man in mid-50s flanked by his knights and Saito's own party. He was donned in a highly decorative armour with medals pinned on his chest. Romanov personally greeted him.

"I am Col. Romanov from the Russian Federation and commander of Combat group beta and overall command of this operation." He introduced himself." It is an honour to finally acquaintance."

"Marshal Antoine de Gramont, commander of the Tristain Expeditionary Army. The honour is mine to finally met the officer who relieved Italica."

"The respect is misplaced Marshal the honour of defending Italica lies in the hands of my men and her people."

Gramont respectfully nods to this statement.

While Introduction and pleasantries were exchanged between both the groups Itami who had been more or less stayed at the back noticed something that he couldn't take his eyes off. Out of the whole bunch of natives and the single Japanese boy there stood out one girl who dressed in more modest attire unlike the extravagant ones of the noble officers and the Harry potter's reject costumes those kids were wearing. But what caught his attention the most was the black hair and blue eyes the girl got.

'Is it me alone or this girl looks a bit Asian ?' Itami thought.

Then the Halkeginians were lead to the row of chairs arrayed for them. In front of them on the table lay Cadden's hard book.

"Please have your attention towards the screen ." A Canadian aide states as he switches on the hardbook and plays a video.

Saito was quick to remember these videos were related to the footage captured from security cameras during the Germanian invasion of Ginza. He looked the other way as the video began to play.

The Tristanians along with the single Germanian and Gallian were confused at first on the sight of the moving pictures on this magical small box. They inquired and were informed it was a laptop which is used for various services back in their world and the moving pictures on the screen were called a video.

In a minute after the video had started the Halkeginians witnessed the marvelled sight of a city filled with towering buildings, hundreds of horseless carriages moving to and forth on the motorway, thousands of pedestrians walking to their destination on the footpath. Unknown to Saito who was had turned back his attention to the screen. Romanov had decided to play a video for tourists specifically for the Ginza district. The video ended with an iconic shot of the Ginza's Wako store and its watchtower.

"What you saw you saw here is the images on the iconic monuments of Ginza district, part of larger Tokyo capital of Japan." Itami who was tasked to explain the video said.

As soon as Louise heard "Japan" she quickly turned to Saito who had sat beside her.

"Isn't that your country Saito ?" She asked with her eyes gleaming with excitement.

"Yes," he replied. "Tokyo is the capital of Japan."

"The city looks so marvellous" commented Tiffaina.

"It would be great if we ever get to visit this city someday."

"Is this the land my Great grandfather was born ?" The Girl with the black hair asked Saito.

"Yes, Siesta." The boy replies. "I don't know from which part of Japan your grandfather is from, but I am certain he must have visited Tokyo once in his life during his service."

They all returned back concentrating on the video unbeknownst to the sudden shock that had spread among the Earth Officers.

Itami glanced over to Romanov who was also staring towards him with a surprised expression. The realization soon hit him. The girl named Siesta was none other than a direct descendant of the lost Zero WW2 fighter Saito had mentioned before. Japanese blood ran through her veins making her part Japanese in his eyes.

Itami stepped forward to meet and ask her directly but was stopped in his tracks when he saw Romanov motioning him to come to him instead.

He walked to his superior officer.

"Wait till the presentation is over," Romanov ordered him.

Itami nodded and stood his ground for now.

"It would be great if we ever get to visit this city someday." The girl commented with a delightful and excited tone.

But all the excitement soon died out as the marvellous sight of a flourishing modern city was turned into a despair one. The first image was the burning building of the Wako store and its broken clock tower. Slowly more images and videos were played showing the images of a brutal massacre. The streets run red with the blood of the innocent as the Germanian Royal cavalry plough through them. Killing anyone who came upon their sight. The images were so brutal that many of the Tristanians shivered and some even felt their stomachs upset. The first to throw up was Louise, anticipating this beforehand Saito had moved his seat a few inches away from her.

The images were now on the fallen embassies those were raided by the Germanian infantry. The Indian officer who was part of the command staff slammed his fists in anger on the table startling others as an armature video was played on the screen showing the Indian Tricolour being ripped out from the flag pole and replaced with a Germanian one, after the embassy had fallen and many of the Indian embassy staff along with the embassy guards were slaughtered.

Finally, it ended with the head cam shot of the heap of the dead gathered some meters away from the gate where a Germanian flag was planted on top of it.

Romanov shutdown the hard book and grazed upon the Halkeginians. The only ones those have not lost their breakfast were only the adults in the group who have seen combat before. The teenagers except Saito were all wasted. Louise had already fainted on Saito's shoulders, while Tiffiana was holding barely.

"Why ?!" Siesta spoke tears running down her cheeks.

She along with other Teens were all lead out by the maids those were waiting outside to another room and the beautiful floor carpet had to be rolled and towed again for cleaning. Romanov nodded and motioned Itami to follow them and then turned towards Gramont who was still in the room.

"This is why we are here" Romanov began. "No diplomatic envoys were sent through the gate, but instead an army bent on pillaging, enslaving, conquering and expanding their so-called empire. They slaughtered thousands before being pushed back through the gate back after two days of a pitched battle. The empire not just attacked the Japanese but also many foreign tourists in Japan at the moment. Foreign embassies were also attacked and many fell and were burned to the ground. They did not only declared war on Japan but multiple nations those lost their citizens during the attack. An international military alliance was formed under the name of UNTF 'United Nations Task Force' under the control of the United nations an intergovernmental organization from our world, to bring the perpetrators of the Ginza attack to Justice.

There was a short pause.

"The Germanian empire had chewed more than it could bite, along with her allies supporting them, "Cadden commented sarcastically.

The word 'Allies' was clearly intended for the Tristanians and Gramont knew it. Though he had not seen personally how the outworlder's weapons operate he had seen heard about them from Napoleon and had seen its aftermath outside Italica's walls. He was in a dilemma now.

Romanov had seen this and decided to capitalise on it.

"From what I have heard Marshal, Tristain had no part to play in this invasion. Your army was also not present during the defence of the Alnus hill. You are here due to your obligation to Germania as her ally and they had also helped you during your invasion of Albion. Correct me if I am wrong."

"What do you propose Col. ?" Gramont asked as beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

"You know what I want." was the reply he got.

Gramont was silent. He digested all this and prepared himself to formulate an answer. He looked towards the odds his beloved kingdom was facing. Tristain had just come out of a yearlong war, which had left her coffers dry. Its army is small and truth to be told, Tristain had no stake in this. Another major point was the Germanian Tristanian border was not far away from here. The highway would lead the outworlder's army directly to the capital of the kingdom. Reasonably thinking the sound strategy now would be to withdraw prepare for a possible invasion by gathering all available forces and remaining resources Tristain could muster. Another possible option would be withdrawing from the war and seek peace with this UNTF and stay out of the conflict. But this decision lay in the hands of Her Majesty and her council. After thinking for a few minutes he had the answer he needed for this situation.

"Very well Colonel. I will take your proposition to Her Majesty, but until then the Kingdom of Tristan would like to observe a ceasefire between our forces."

"We also like to send a diplomatic envoy with you to your capital to begin talks with your leadership."

"Agreed," Gramont responded.

Romanov raised from his seat followed by Gramont and extended his hand for a handshake, which after second of confusion and explaining that it is a way of greeting in their world he accepted.

Romanov sighs and then smirks as Gramont exits the room. He along with his staff had been here for three hours and by the grace of God, their time with these people was very fruitful. If Gramont was a man of his word surely now they would be having a nation less to worry about. But it will be taking some time as news here spread very slowly and trusting them is still in question.

He then leaves along with rest of his officers to have some rest before the official treaty ceremony will be held between the UNTF and Italica nobility tonight.

 **(Another room)**

Siesta was shocked.

Just moments ago for the first time in her life, she was fortunate enough to witness the marvellous sight of her Great grandfather's homeland through the outworlder's magical mirror box. The childhood stories she used to hear about her great grandfather's far away homeland came to her mind. She genuinely wanted to run back home with that box and show all of this to her family and siblings.

But all the excitement died away in an instant when the images of the city filled with marvels that could compete no supersede Tristain was replaced by images of death, destruction and despair. The roads were filled with the wreckage of those burning horseless wagons. The roads were painted with red with the blood of those unfortunate enough to be on the path of the invading Germanian army. She cried by the thought of how her Grandfather if he would have alive, would feel watching his homeland desecrated by this Germanians. The moving image of men, women and children alike trampled over by the Germanian cavalry was printed in her head.

She was lost in her own thought not noticing Itami along with another Canadian soldier act as his interpreters entering the room and was moving straight towards her after inquiring something some Saito.

"Miss Siesta" She heard being called out from an unknown voice. She slightly turns her head to see two men in green armour and uniform same to those of the outworlders standing beside her.

Ye..es sir" She said him with a bland tone which was devoid of her natural sweet voice and tried to stand up from her seat.

"You don't have to stand up." The Canadian soldier said gesturing her to remain seated as he dragged two empty chairs near him.

This is Youji Itami from the Japan Self-Defense Force" He said gesturing towards Itami who waved at her with a smile. " He is from the nation your Great Grandfather was from."

Siesta eyes widen to see another Japanese apart of Saito in front of her. He also projected the same kind of black hair and facial features like Saito's.

I am Pvt. Benoit from the Canadian army and you will be talking through me as Mr Itami here cannot talk with you in your tongue."

Siesta first nodded understanding the language barrier she and the people from her great grandpa's land have.

"I am sorry." She blurted out as she looked right into Itami and Benoit eyes. " I feel ashamed for joining hands with those who had violated my great grandpa's homeland." She said with her head lowered towards the floor.

"It's alright," Itami replied through Benoit. "Tristania had not taken part in the invasion thus making it a neutral power." But these words didn't help her a bit.

"Don't blame yourself for what had happened." He spoke again." I can understand how you are feeling right now. You and the rest of your family and people have nothing to do with this." He assured her.

After hearing this Siesta slowly raised her head.

"How can I help you with ?" She asked slowly

"I am here to ask a few questions about your Great Grandfather origins and how was he able to get to this world."

There was a brief silence from Siesta.

"If you feel uncomfortable about this we can..."

"No, wait." Siesta broke her silence. "I will be honouring my great grandpa's memories and his will to finally be able to return back to his own homeland someday by doing this."

Itami quickly drew out his note pad out of his breast pocket and prepared to note everything down.

"My Great Grandpa's name was Sasaki Takeo..."

 **(15 minutes later)**

...the iron dragon was lost during the war with Albion and no further news is known about it."

For last 10 to 15 minutes Siesta answered honestly every question those were asked to her about her ancestral origins, How her Great grandfather ended up in Tristain, the whereabouts of her family's heirloom 'iron dragon' and a few questions about her family living in Tarbes.

"Thank you miss Siesta for all this information," Itami says with a smile. "If you have any question feel free to ask us."

Siesta ponders for a minute or two before speaking up.

"Great Grandpa had died long ago before I was born, can I know what all this knowledge about him is going to be used as ?" She asked curiously.

Itami closes his note pad and puts it back in his breast pocket.

"Miss Siesta, we never leave a man behind."

Siesta tilts her head in confusion hearing this phrase.

"It has been a creed in our world's armed forces to never leave a man behind," he explains. "He or she will be brought back dead or alive back to his homeland from the battlefield any means necessary. Pilot Takeo was doing his duty to his homeland before he was transported here. As a soldier of Japan, we would use any possible means to bring his remains back to Japan and his family."

Itami stands up to leave.

"If possible Miss Siesta, we might be able to connect you to your extended family back home."

"Really!" Siesta says with her eyes widen."My family will be so happy to hear this. We will finally be able to meet our ancestors beyond the gate."

"Yes, you might will. Thank you for your time Miss Siesta. We must take our leave now."

"No Thank you, Mr Itami and Mr Benoit. Today is the happiest day for me." She bows her head down before them.

Both the men look at each other before Itami bows before her. After returning back to their normal posture, they turn and leave the room as Siesta runs off to inform all this to her friends.

* * *

Formar Mansion

Countess Myui nervousness grew as the time for the arrival of the UNTF leadership drew nearer.

She paced back and forth in her room deeply thinking about the act of Treachery she is going to commit against the Empire and also about the severe repercussions the Italicans are going to face as a whole. But what choice did the Emperor left for her, first she lost her father during the initial counter-invasion of the UN and then the whole county was subjected to a brutal and unprecedented scorched earth campaign ordered directly by the emperor himself leading to the death of innumerable innocent Italicans.

She hoped for the aid and support promised from the imperial government to relief them. But instead, they sent their attack dogs to kill and pillage. To protect their own hide against the invaders they decided to sacrifice the whole province and burn it to the ground in order to fulfil their failed endeavour to delay the enemy.

'Italica was stabbed on her back by the Empire.' She thought grinding her teeth in anger. 'And she will definitely have her vengeance against those who wronged her and her people."

Suddenly a knock is heard at her door.

She quickly recomposes herself

"Come in" she calls out.

The door slowly creaks open as the head maid Kaine enters the room.

"Milady." She says concurrently bowing before her. "The preparations are complete."

"Very good Kaine." She replies with a smile.

She suddenly hears the unmistakable chopping noises of oncoming outworlder's airship. Slightly peeking through her window she sees the airship hovering over her mansion's ground. The craft was much smaller than the usual airship she saw when the Gallian vessels flew over Italica couple of months ago. But she knew not to underestimate the outworlder's constructs from their size. From what she had heard a small group of these ships took on the Imperial fists dragons and annihilated them.

She took a glancing look through her windows and saw men disembarking from the small airship. From what she was informed beforehand by Col. Romanov the Commanding general of the UNTF a man named Hazama was unavailable due to being summoned back to Japan to present a report on the recent developments in Halkeginia to his superiors. In his absence, his immediate subordinate would be present in his stead.

Her attention was soon broken when her head maid called for her.

"Milady we should make haste. I don't think out outworlder guests would like to wait."

"Very well."

Myui exits her room and along with her trusted head maid and caretaker briskly walking towards the throne room.

 **(Formar Ground Helipad)**

 **(25 minutes Earlier)**

Kurata kicked the dirt with his boot, the boredom was gaining on him.

He along with few others from his platoon were the few unlucky ones those stayed away from the fight that ensured for the city while they guarded the east gate in anticipation of an attack that never came.

But while the rest of the platoon rested or were engaged in important tasks, he was left alone with an Indian soldier who cannot speak even a little Japanese to guard the helipad.

He tried to converse with him with the little English he knew but ended up creating more confusion amongst themselves as it was quite hard for him to understand the heavy accented broken English his counterpart spoke. He decided to stay quiet and focus on his job. Not long after the Indian soldier's shift ended and he was replaced by another member from his squad.

This new soldier appeared much younger than his previous counterpart but still retained a stoic expression on his face. After a respectable nod both the men returned back to their duty. Kurata kept his graze to himself and mouth shut not wanting to embarrass himself and waited patiently for his shift to end so he can go back and have something to eat, he dreamt of the hot meal his stomach was longing being prepared at the field kitchen instead of the MREs he has been living on for last 24 hours or so.

To lighten his own mood, he began to hum Meicom's op oblivious to his surroundings and not noticing the peak of interest his Indian counterpart began to show as he heard this song.

Suddenly Kurata felt a hand on his left shoulder. Looking back he got surprised to see the face of his Indian counterpart this close to him.

"You were singing Meicom's opening song, right ?!" He asked with a smile

"Ye...sss" Kurata replied.

"Loved the whole series. It was quite different from the action anime I usually watch."

Suddenly Kurata's enthusiasm grew to a new extent, he just found another anime lover and that from a completely different part of the world. He had met many Americans and Europeans before those who watch anime, but this man in front of him will the first Indian he meet who watch anime.

"I loved it too. Completed the whole series before I was deployed here." He spoke up as he extended his hand. "By the way I am Sgt. Takeo Kurata, nice to meet you."

"Sgt. Shankar Kumar, the pleasure is mine," he said as he accepted his hand.

The conversation that followed devolved into a hearty discussion of anime between a wannabe Otaku and a real one.

After a few minutes of their anime talks, Kurata's eyes suddenly caught up to what appeared to be a beauty of an angel walking out of the HQ and heading straight out of the UN encampment in the Mansion grounds.

He was unable to see her face properly which was well hidden under a large sun hat, but her other features were quite attractive. Her long blonde hair was mesmerising along with her bodily features that caught all his attention along with a new found friend who stood by his side.

But Kurata noticed something was off about her. She had been kept her head low since she left the building and walked straight without caring for the looks she was receiving from the bystanders. As she passed through them he clearly heard a faint sob coming from her side.

Tiffania was rocked to her deep core. She couldn't comprehend the amount of slaughter she saw in that magical box. She couldn't stop herself thinking about the wave of screams she heard as the innocent people were trampled over by charging cavalry. She needed some fresh air after all this. Not wanting to worry her friends about her, she stealthily slipped out of the guest quarters while everyone was there busy in their own endeavours.

Walking down the small pathway her eyes tears up thinking about the people those were victims of war. She had experienced firsthand what war can do to the people. Her homeland was plunged into a massive civil war and was then fell under the invasion of Tristain and Germania. For all her life she lived a secluded life in Westwood with a group of orphans she took under her care. She was supported by her elder sister Matilda who was able to hide her from the Albion soldiers and also helped the orphans find a new home. Now she felt a longing for her sister's warmth embrace and wash away all the grief she is having inside her.

"Miss are you alright ?"

Her thoughts were suddenly broken when she heard someone calling her out from behind in albionish. Turning back she saw the face of an outworlder soldier staring right at her. Startled she took a few steps back and nearly fell tripping on a few ammo crates placed there. But to her luck her the soldier was able to hold onto her.

Recomposing herself she quickly thanked her saviour. But to her confusion, she was met with widened shocked eyes. He was not the only one, right behind him stood another outworlder who also had the same expression. Then it dawned upon her. Due to her clumsiness, her hat has fallen off and her secret was out again. But this time her friends aren't around to save her.

Kurata's lifelong dream of meeting a real-life elf has been answered. In his thoughts, he kept on praising the lord almighty for fulfilling his wish as his eyes were fixed on the pointed ears the girl had. He was completely speechless, as he tried hard to formulate something and begin a conversation with this beautiful elf girl, "Is that really an elf ?" His Indian counterpart spoke out loud. Causing many heads turning towards them. The soldiers around those were busied themselves in their duties quickly turned their attention towards them with the word 'Elf' reaching their ears.

Within a minute a small crowd gathered around the now shocked girl to get a glimpse of an elf.

Tiffania felt helpless as she was now surrounded by a bunch of outworlder footmen. She shivered by the thought of facing another inquisition or far worse by the hands of these men and women. She prepared mentally prepared herself, but what happened next surprised her.

"Hello, I am Takeo Kurata !, nice to meet you." The man literally bowed before her as he introduced himself, excited to be the first earth human to meet a living elf.

She also noticed the other outworlders hadn't shown any signs of hostility but instead of curiosity and excitement. She decided to reply.

"Thank you for helping me, Mr Kurata. My name is Tiffania." Hearing this caused Kurata to blush.

"Are you really an elf ?" Kumar asked.

She nods in response. Causing an uproar in their ranks.

"So those ears are..." The soldier was cut off mid-sentence when a senior officer and a bunch of MPs intervened.

"Shows over, get back to your posts." He shouted causing the crowd to disperse quickly.

"Ma' am this way please." They escorted her back to the HQ.

Before leaving she did wave at Kurata who went bright red as he responded her by waving back at her.

After a few minutes, the UNTF's delegation chopper arrived. Bringing in the bigwigs from the UN command. Kurata's shift ended after that. Shaking hands with Shankar he beaded farewell and walked back to his platoon. His stomach growled in hunger but he didn't mind much, because his head was lost in the thought of the face of the girl Tiffania and his prayers to the god to let him meet her again in near future.

Unbeknownst to him, the word of sighting an elf spread like wildfire all around the camp even reaching the ears of the senior UN officials and also the local population especially the Germanian Rose knights present there. In fear of an attack on the Tristanian delegation from fanatics in the Germanian ranks due to the age of prejudice among the humans and elves, armed guards were posted to safeguard the life of the single demi-human member in the whole city.

* * *

Formar Mansion, Throne Room

(6:25 PM Earth Time)

Gramont stood proudly in the room, dressed in his best ceremonial garments with a large array of medals pinned on his chest which were awarded to him for his services to the crown and the people. His extravagant medals and clothing really stood him out from all the members of Germanian and Tristain nobility present there. He couldn't help but smirk as the attention he was getting from some of the Italican noble ladies present in the room.

But that cannot be said about the Germanians.

The attention he and his knights and officers were getting was only intense and cold stare from them. The revelation of Tiffaina true origins had already made a crack in the already sour Rose Order and Tristain relationship.

He couldn't help but notice the piercing cold graze he was receiving from Captain Pina de Terre for hiding the knowledge of having an elf in their ranks from the beginning of the campaign.

But this was only the beginning, the settlement he had reached with the UN might break the diplomatic relations between the two kingdoms Germania and Tristain completely.

But for his kingdom's survival risks had to be taken.

Gramont had come to understand this war is a lost cause. The difference between the power of Germania and the UN is monumental. The UN is not a single nation but a coalition of nations joined together to punish the Germanians for their transgression against them. They are armed with powerful magical weapons and constructs those would demolish a city in a matter of hours. Each and every UN soldier is a musketeer armed with muskets that have the power to unleash a large amount of lead before any need to reload. Not to forget the powerful Iron dragons and Elephants they have in their arsenal.

He wouldn't have taken the word of Col. Romanov as truth but the testimony of every Tristanian knight along with the word of his most trusted knight Napoleon made him believe all.

After the signing of the treaty, Tristain army would likely begin its preparations for the journey back home and if possible stay out of this brewing conflict.

He sighed.

The fall of the mighty Germanian empire is likely to a possibility if peace is not accepted by the emperor.

The heavy decorative doors of the throne room were slowly opened and eight men garbed in simple looking green uniform entered in.

The audience in the room was dead silent as the UN delegation made their way to the seated countess.

"The UNTF commanders are here," Gramont said to himself while scrutinizing the garments these men were wearing. They were all Most of them from head to toe wore olive green clothing and had medals pinned on their chests, along with peculiar looking hats on their head, one of them literally had covered the top of his head with a cloth binding. There were still few those were in their usual green uniforms but were differentiated with the mixture of patterns they wore.

'The ones in the more formal looking clothes are the officers while the rest must be their general staff' he interpreted. 'The one with the most medals must be their general in command.'

"Father, they all look so simple like peasants in their clothes." Guiche made a hushed remark.

"I know son, but try not too disrespectful. They all may look like commoners or some wealthy merchants but we should be beware of the power they possess in their hands." He said to his son.

'Like the power of Lord Cato.' He thought as he took a glance at him.

The simple attired Ordinary looking old man who stood in the corner with his own group of commoners was far more powerful and knowledgeable mage against all the Nobles in the city combined. He may have renounced his nobility but still held tremendous respect among the Nobility and people of Germania due to his ethics and abilities as a capable lord. It can clearly be seen in the way other nobles act respectfully when they recognise the man before him.

The outworlders halted right in front of the throne. The one leading the group came forward and greeted the countess what appeared to be some kind of salute. In return, the Countess stood up from her throne and slightly bowed before him in return as a mark of respect.

"Welcome," she greets them.

"I am Myui La Formar, Countess of the Formar County and head of the House of Formar." She introduced herself.

"Your Highness, I am Lieutenant General Henry O'Brien from the United States Marine Corps and Acting Commander of the United Nations Task Force Special Region." He returned the gesture.

Further pleasantries were exchanged as O'Brien went on to introduce his core staff members to the Countess before the document was brought forward on the table.

The articles of the treaty were read out loud before the UNTF dignitaries and the Guests by Hamilton. As promised by the Col. Romanov before Italica was allowed to retain its sovereignty along with the costs of rebuilding the damaged city completely burdened by the UNTF.

Italica in accordance to UN requests will take the stance of neutrality in the ongoing conflict. In return, UNTF guarantee Italics's independence and is bound to protect it in time of an attack.

UNTF is allowed to construct its Forward Operating Base 10 km away from the city and is also allowed to station troops in the city to maintain law and order until the depleted Italican Militia is reformed.

UNTF was also allowed to establish a trading post with Tax Exemption.

Finally, The control of all the border forts in the province will be now under the control of UNTF.

Countess leans forward a bit from her throne and dips her quill in the ink pot and places her signature on the two sets of documents one which was in Germanian and other being in the outworlder's language. In quick succession, O'Brien to places his signatures the only difference being he used his fountain pen which was gifted to him by his son for his field promotion.

Myui inwardly sighs with a sense of relief as she places her quill on the table. Italica and its people were finally safe again.

Making an alliance with this outworldly army will be perceived as blasphemy and act of high treachery from both the Emperor of Germania and Pope of Romalia. It is likely the outraged noble houses on Italica's borders might even lead their militias to crush the heretic Countess of Italica.

But she is ready to take the risks for the survival of Italica and her family's name. With the UNTF protecting Italica's independence she would rather like those imperials to try and attack, unlike last time when they just sat and watched Formar burn.

(20 Minutes Later)

Cato felt very much annoyed from the amount of unwanted attention he was receiving. Even though he had renounced his nobility ages ago his fame of being the personal tutor of the emperor and a great teacher hadn't died out like his career. As soon as his identity was revealed to the guests he soon found himself surrounded by young nobles in their attempt to hire him as their tutor knowing very well the reply from this old man would be a disappointing one.

It was only due to Countess Myui and Col. Romanov's insistence he decided to stay and of course how he can forget the availability of the high-quality food and wine those were served in the buffet after the signing of the treaty. He couldn't feel more lively when his mouth tasted his favourite dish which he hadn't consumed for a long time now. This sensation was felt great.

This expression was also shared by the two girls Elvira and Rainn who have never tasted what can be said as high society food.

But animosity still lingered among them. The most hostile was Elvira. She couldn't stop herself from glaring daggers at each and every Germanian knight passed in front of her. He couldn't blame her. She was but the only survivor from her village. The scars of what she had seen hadn't healed yet. Every morning she had to go to one of the outworlder's healers for her mental checkup.

"Mr Cato." He heard someone asking for him.

"Yes," He said as he turned his head.

Cato was a bit furious, Never liked to be disturbed when he is having his food or when he is at his studies.

But as soon as he found who was searching for him his anger melted away.

"General O'Brien !, It is good to finally see a familiar face, my good sir. My deepest apologies for not being able to greet you properly, you know what state I am in right now." Cato said still holding his plate filled up with different Halk delicacies.

O'Brien chuckled.

"I understand."

"What can I do for you ?"

"There is something very important to discuss, but I can wait until you have your fill."

In response, Cato just placed his plate down on a table and wiped his mouth and hand with a handkerchief.

"My food can wait, my good sir, but an important cannot."

"Very well then."

Both the men went towards a secluded corner in the room, where he explained the dire situation General Hazama was in and they need his help in this matter.

"So this is what you need me for," Cato spoke placing his hand on his bearded chin.

"So what is your decision ?"

"You know my answer General, How can I leave this golden opportunity to repay the debt for saving us. Not to forget finally able to see the world where science reigns supreme."

"Thank you !" O'Brien said shaking his hand. "I will be having a chopper waiting for you outside to fly us back to base. You wouldn't mind right flying right ?"

"Absolutely not. This is going to be another new experience for me." He replied gleefully.

But later on, he would regret his decision on bringing the girls with him. They were terrified of flying even though being assured it was safe for them. To make matter worse Cato soon found what dangerous thing motion sickness can be when his perfect wizard dress was ruined none other than by Elvira.

* * *

Halkeginia, Fort Endurance, Sept 5, 2019.

(8:50 AM Earth Time)

Itami took a glance at his wristwatch.

"They are late" he muttered under his breath.

"The Diet summon begins at 11, we still have a lot of time in our hands so stop worrying about it," Arran spoke casually as he stood beside him

"You have a smoke ?" Arran asked.

"Oh yes !" Itami replied digging his hand into his breast pocket and pulling out a box of cigarettes and a lighter.

Plucking one from the pack Arran quickly lit it up and began to smoke to kill the nervousness he was feeling inside his bones. It was his first visit to nation's parliament that to a foreign one to be questioned by an investigation committee set up by the nation's opposition party and some human rights monitoring group.

He sighed at his luck as he dropped the cigarette and crushed its remains under his boots.

Out of all the soldiers those participated in the skirmish of Coda, Otaku Itami as his fellow compatriots call him, was selected by the JSDF command to present the report on the actions of Recon 3 and 4 in the confrontation against the Germanian dragon squadron and also to show the world the evidences those were racked up to counter the allegations made on the UNTF and Hazama for misconduct and negligence in their part to protect the civilians under their protection.

But it was changed at the last moment.

After being informed of Itami's easy to go attitude, O'Brien decided against it and to choose him instead. Itami will still be accompanying him in the Diet but as his guide, translator and a witness of this event. The heavy lifting will be mostly done by him and General Hazama.

After a few more minutes of waiting, they see an HMV coming towards them.

"Our guests have arrived," Itami muttered.

The vehicle stopped a few meters away.

The first person to come out was 1st Lt. Yanagida, who as always kept his calm composure but Itami knew how this man can be a sick sneaky bastard when his or Japan's ambitions are concerned. That was the primary reason why he is General Hazama's adjutant.

Closely following him was Sage Cato and to both Itami and Arran's surprise was Elvira.

"Hey Itami !," Yanagida waved at them. "Ready for your vacation."

"Very funny, Akira, very funny." He replied in mild amusement.

Yanagida hands him a briefcase.

"Very sensitive documents are stored in it, make sure you don't lose them."

"Of course. " was Itami's reply.

"We were told only Cato was going to accompany us." Arran inquired.

"Mr Cato doesn't want to go out to our world all alone, so he decided to bring her with him as his helper. Don't worry paperwork is already done." With this, he turns around to leave.

Itami then turns his attention to the special region inhabitants.

"Good morning Mr Cato, ready to go ?"

"I thought you never going to ask. Of course, sir Itami, let us proceed, I cannot contain my excitement anymore."He replies with a big smile.

The group then got into a vehicle waiting for them near the gate. In a matter of minutes, they passed through the dark tunnel connecting two worlds and were soon on the Earth side of the Gate.

The natives were welcomed by the sight of tall building many made of glass reaching up to the heavens.

That was not it. While Elvira stared with an open mouth baffled by such majestic structures, Cato, on the other hand, the compared this outworlderly city with the imperial capital.

After a few minutes waiting inside what appeared to a fort smaller than the one in Halkeginia surrounding the gate for some time, the group then switched to another vehicle a black Limo which was waiting for them.

On the way to their destination, the only expression Cato and Elvira stared awestruck as they passed through Tokyo. But everything passed through their eyes as a breeze. As much as Cato wanted to stop and marvel the wonders of this advanced civilization, visit their libraries, his duties stop him as he is here for a purpose that he cannot neglect.

"We have arrived " Aran informs as the Limo entered into National Diet building premises.

* * *

Earth, Tokyo, National Diet Building Sept 5, 2019.

The large conference room was filled up to its full capacity. Journalists, Politicians - Japanese and representatives from the UN Special Region Council and the UN Security Council and also representatives from the well known international NGO the UN Watch.

Everyone waited eagerly for General Hazama and his entourage to arrive. The recent revelation of the news of the arrival of two special region natives for the summoning had already peaked the interests of not only the people present in the room but also of the whole world. Several International news outlets had gained access to the summoning and were streaming the upcoming events live on TV and social media networks.

But the one who was most excited was Mizuki Kouhara. A member of the Japanese national diet and of the opposition party that had before supported the destruction of the gate and now is against the deployment of Foreign troops in Japanese soil. There were also various rumours about some of this party's members secretly funding and instigating the anti-UN and anti-war protests across the nation.

Kouhara was dressed in her best, a woman in mid-30s she rose in fame in her political career by voicing out her in protest against the Japanese government bowing before UN's request gaining much popularity among her peers and supporters. An opportunist, she couldn't deny the chairmanship of the investigation committee on the conduct of JSDF troops in Special region and also received an invitation to act as an observer in the UN's own investigation on the massive loss of life in the special region.

Using her influence in media and also support from various human rights groups spreading her word, she was able to spin a narrative about the incompetency of the UNTF command leading to the death of thousands of innocent civilians leading to a massive outcry in Japan. With mounting pressure, the government was forced to act and after consulting with UN officials it was decided to summon the Commander of the UNTF forces in special region General Hazama for questioning.

UN officials proposed on holding the questioning session at United Nations HQ at New York. But the Japanese Government declined it and instead insisted on holding it in their own Diet building as the nation that got attacked was Japan and also the person who is going to be questioned is Japanese. Relenting to the Japanese demand, UN officials did secure their position in the summons which allowed UN representatives and delegates from the participating member nations of the multinational military operation to be present during the session.

Kouhara cracked a smile, She knows how this was going to end. She is going to stump Hazama to the floor. Hazama might even get removed from his position, taking all the fall for the massacres in the special region. The unexpected arrival special region natives are going to be used for her gains. These people from a primitive medieval background would be much easier to manipulate than a well trained military officer.

Hazama is going to be her stepping stone for further her prosperous political career. She might get an important post in the Government in the near future for the success she is going to attain today. But there is a single obstacle on her path. The 'UN's investigation committee', Unlike her the committee's resolve on punishing Hazama is half-hearted. The committee is also divided and no proper conclusion had been made. They are going to be second to question him.

From the suggestion she had got from one of the members of the committee she had to expose Hazama's and the UNTF's fault and tarnish their reputation on a world stage in order to leave the committee with no much decision but to present the report to the security council and the UN Command to have him sacked. And she was confident with the present developing situation she will be able to do exactly that.

She broke from her thoughts when finally after a long patience wait Hazama along with his officers and the Special region natives enter the room. Flashes went off everywhere as everyone with a camera rushed to take pictures of them.

Among the uniformed men, there were two she deduced them as natives. One is a girl with a beautiful blonde hair, she was dressed what appeared to be modest European medieval attire, the other was an older man who clearly appeared to be as a cosplay of a wizard character from an anime convention.

Hazama and his group were escorted to their designated seats and things began to settle down.

"We will now begin the inquiry concerning the Special Region." The speaker of the house began. "First up is Councilwoman Kouhara Mizuki, Chairman of the Investigation Committee."

Kouhara proudly stood up from her seat and went up to the microphone. She adjusted her voice and prepared her papers. She began by calling Hazama forward.

"General Hazama, We all would like to know how come nearly 5000 civilians were butchered unopposed by rogue elements in the special region, while troops under your command those would have been able to prevent this, just sat behind walls of your base camp and did nothing ?!"

After the Diet member called his name, Hazama stepped forward.

Hazama cleared his throat.

"We had no knowledge of these massacres happening. It was not until our lead recon units discovered ruined settlements on their missions to make friendly contact with the native population." He calmly replied.

"Are you trying to imply General you do not hold yourself and your command responsible for the deaths of thousands. Do you not feel ashamed for letting this many lives lost for your incompetency ?!" Kouhara attacked.

"I feel extremely sorry for the lives lost, but as I have said before we had no knowledge of this happening, So no I do not feel I or any of my man is responsible for this unfortunate event happening. If we had any prior info of these attacks we would have acted to prevent them."

"How can you be this blunt General ?!, You surely would have noticed these attacks by rogue elements by your air recon assets, the bandits and foot soldiers of the special region surely don't have transportations for faster travel?

Kouhara narrowed her eyes glaring into ones of Hazama.

"Or you just let them happen as an act of personal revenge for their attack on Japan."

Hazama didn't respond.

"Gotcha" Kouhara muttered.

After half a minute of silence, Hazama slightly turned his head towards Itami and gave a nod.

Quickly understanding his commander's signal he quickly sprang into action and quickly hands a file folder and stands beside him.

Opening up the folder Hazama pulls out a set of pictures which he had Itami and Arran distributed them amongst the Investigation committee members of both UN and Japan and with the leaders of both ruling and opposition parties.

The picture quality was not that good but it was enough to make out a distinctive image of a village taken from a recon drone before and after it was struck by the belligerents bent on its destruction.

"Let me make something clear up, we didn't possess major air assets to conduct extensive daily recon operations until recently. For the purpose of aerial recon, we were limited to using our UAVs as there were still many unknown variables lingers in the special region, including dangerous flying reptiles i.e dragons, those posses a great threat to our unarmed recon choppers. The capability of our drones is also limited so not much ground was covered before our recon teams were out on their mission. The image you see here is of a settlement that fell under our daily recon route. As it has to be seen our drone passed through the village bustling with life at 0800 Hours in the morning but when the drone flew by the settlement again nearly 6 to 7 hours later we find it to be totally annihilated."

"What are you trying to imply general ?"

"It is that until now Madam chair of the investigation have implied that it was the work of rogue bandit elements in the region which according to you we have failed to pacify were on a spree of loot and plunder. But according to our on-ground reports, it was a very well organised pogrom which can only be conducted by well organised military units."

"Don't be ridiculous General !. As far as we have knowledge about our other world enemy they are a civilization in the period of Renaissance. A civilised society in this period is unlikely to have done this inhumane act except for unruly bandits."

"Damned Sympathizer" Arran cursed under his breath. Though a person who always tried himself to keep himself away from extreme political ideologies, the new trend of calling out for the return of all prisoners and for better treatment of those criminals rotting on the prison island (for what they deserved) by liberal factions made his blood boil. These are the people who always call for peace even if their own house is burnt to ashes by the people they are trying to protect.

"We do have documents which clearly states this massacres to be a state-sanctioned operation," Hazama spoke and signalled Arran to fetch up the document for him.

A bloodied piece of paper was brought out to the eyes of the world. Hazama held it out clearly for the cameras to zoom in. Then he went on to read aloud a translated version of the document. As Kouhara stood with her mouth wide open. It clearly stated the Emperor of this Germanian Empire had sacrificed the people of this region namely Italica for his implementation for scorched Earth policy but on a far brutal scale.

Kouhara stared at Hazama is disbelief. Hazama has caught her completely off guard by this move.

"Th...This document might be fake." Kouhara stuttered as she formulated a response."Including those pictures of yours to save your reputation."

"We have Recon videos taken from the drones if you want to go through Madam Chair and for the document we have a witness who can testify on our claims on this matter."

Kouhara understood about whom Hazama was talking about.

Without wasting more time she called Cato to step forward.

Who with high enthusiasm sprang up from his seat and walked up to the microphone.

"Can you understand me, Mr Cato ?" Kouhara asked in Japanese which Cato swiftly responded by shaking his head.

"Do you understand me now ?" She asked again this time switching to English.

"Yes!" He responds.

"Guess we have to continue with English then." She announces before moving on to question him. She was informed about the common languages in the Special region and was quite relieved to see English or Albionish according to the natives in the list making communication quite easier.

"Mr Cato, you are currently in the refugee camp. Are there any restrictions in your lifestyle ?"

"No, not at all. We provided with clothes, food, a place to live, leisure, all our needs are fulfilled."

But this answer was not enough to convince Kouhara.

"I will be blunt Mr Cato, are you any way forced to say this. Do not have any fear. Feel free to speak up your mind no one is going to penalise you if you speak the truth."

" Lady Kouhara, I got it right ? my answer like my previous reply would be no. I and my fellow villagers are well fed and sheltered. It will be a bit embarrassing to say but I did have gained some weight due to the delicacies provided to me and all back in the camp." He said with a smile and patted his stomach to make his point.

Kouhara was left speechless. This was unexpected, they should feel oppressed not the opposite. But nonetheless, it was not over yet.

She cleared her throat to speak again.

"It is good to hear you all well treated, now to the matter on the authenticity of the document, Are the claims made by General Hazama true ?"

"Yes." He replied without a hitch. "The Imperial decree you see in the hands of General Hazama is no doubt a real one. The Emperor's seal on it proves it."

"Bu...but Mr Cato don't you think you are fooled with a forged document with a fake seal."

There was a brief momentary silence.

"No, the Emperor's seal cannot be forged. It can only be found in the Imperial Palace and is kept under heavy guard. Moreover to prove my point the decree also possess the signature of the Emperor, which I very well recognise and by no means can be imitated by your people who are having a hard time speaking Germanian, forget about writing it down in someone else's handwriting."

Receiving approval nods from the seated ruling party Diet and international members in the room. The opposition stayed motionless.

Kouhara has also left without a word again. Everything has been turned into Hazama's favour. But she steeled herself and prepared the last trick she had in her sleeves.

"But aren't you a normal citizen Mr Cato ?, How can a commoner according to your world's social status enter your Emperor's palace and have the personal insight of your Emperor's signatures. Even if you have worked as a soldier in your younger days that doesn't mean you do have access to your leader's personal chambers."

Cato slowly lowered his head in response.

"Finally" Kouhara muttered and smirked, she has caught upon Hazama's trick.

But her smirk was wiped out of her face when Cato raised his head back let out a small but audible chuckle.

"Lady Kouhara, never judge a person by the way he dresses. I might be in what according to you consider as rags, I am all but a man with aristocratic heritage."

"What ?!" Kouhara half yelled.

"Ohh Yes, Before I went on a self-imposed exile to live a life of a hermit, I was one of the advisors in the Imperial court and a personal tutor for the present Emperor of Germania. I educated him in the arts of magic, warfare and politics. If you have any doubt you are free to ask any Germanian prisoners you have in your dungeons, I am sure they will only sing my praise."

Kouhara stood stunned with her eyes widened. As well the room burst in whispers as discussions began to spring out among the Diet members and UN delegates.

"If it is tr...true they show us a magic trick of yours." She stuttered.

"Why not !" He turns towards Arran. "Can I ?"

He receives a positive nod.

Moving a few steps back he Uttered a spell and created a small barrier of water around him, the wave of water that moved around him. This sudden act caught everyone completely off guard. The conference room erupted as members of the Diet and UN panicked by this . But Cato as ended his spell and the shield around him receded leaving a wet floor and a dumbfounded crowd.

After a few minutes, the speaker of the house came switched on his mic.

"Diet member Kouhara do you have any questions ?"

"That...that is all." She said lowering her head in defeat.

"This Questioning will continue after a two hours break." He declared.

"Thank you," Hazama said to Cato.

"No need to thank me, General, you have already done a lot for us, I am just returning the favour."

The question session began again after the break, but this time the centre stage was of the UN investigation committee members, who asked various questions to Arran and Itami relating to the 3rd Recon encounter with the imperial fists and the loss of life during the attack.

Both the men replied every question professionally. The true capabilities of the Imperial Fists are also mentioned which led to 147 causalities including 2 UN soldiers one American and other one Japanese lost their lives during the unfortunate event. It was baffling for the committee members to hear medieval armour used by the fists was able to shrug off 9mm bullets fired at point blank rage.

Questions were also asked, Elvira. Cato acted as her translator as she testified about the horror she endured when the Imperial soldiers attack her village. It was hard for everyone to see the young girl breaking down in tears as she narrated her tale and was the only survivor from her village. She was led out of the room by one of the female committee members followed by Itami.

After much deliberation, it was finally proven Hazama and in extension, UNTF held no responsibility in the death of thousands as it was deliberately conducted by the Imperial government.

After the session ended Cato and Elvira were led back to Halkeginia, Itami was ordered to escort them. Cato was disappointed for not being able to stay some more time on Earth. But the assurance on getting more books on this world's history and science and a promise for the second visit, he kept his silence.

Hazama and Arran stayed behind for the Press conference held by UN Special Region Command on the present developments in Halkeginia which was scheduled in the evening.

* * *

 _Ladies and Gentlemen, I am William Ashford, welcome to BBC World News._

 _Just hours ago the United Nations Special Region Command have held a joint press conference where the global media was briefed upon the latest developments in the Special region campaign._

 _For further information, we will take to our correspondent Laura Colton_

 _Thank you, William._

 _The UNSRC has released a report on their first major diplomatic success in the Special Region. According to it, the UNTF has signed a treaty of neutrality with the Italica County of the Special Region. According to it Italica an important province to the Germania Empire will hold its stance as a neutral power in the conflict in return will receive military and humanitarian aid. It was also mentioned about the recovery of a Japanese citizen abducted during the Ginza attack. The identity of the person is still being withheld, but according to UN spokesman, he or she will be crossing back to Earth in a few days after some medical examinations. UN has also declared about sending of Human rights observers and allowing limited Media coverage on the military campaign in the Special Region._

 _Thank you, Laura we will now..._

O, Brien closed the YouTube tab on his Laptop and leaned back on his chair. He had been following the events from the beginning.

He smiled thinking about the stinking face the Diet Woman used to make whenever Cato replied her questions.

Suddenly he heard a knock on his door.

"Come in."

A US Marine enters in and presents a salute.

"Sir, we have received an update from our FOB near Italica. According to it, the base is now 100% per cent operational."

"Very good, you may leave."

The Marine turns and leaves.

Removing his Laptop from his table he unrolls the well-detailed map of Halkeginia on it. After brooding over it for a minute he marks an X with his pencil on Tristain and then on the Duman Mountains which acts as a natural Barrier to the inner provinces of Germania.

"The Preparations for the second phase is nearly complete." He says to himself with a self-satisfied face.

* * *

 _Thank you all for reading the latest chapter. After months of non-stop working on this chapter, it is finally over. I am literally burned out and will be taking a break from Gate and will be concentrating on my AOT fic ( New season came and I am pumped) So Don't worry about it if I don't update for two to three months._

 _As always don't forget to review. Have any grievances or ideas feel free to PM me._


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